Freedom From Myself
by nomuseneeded
Summary: Bruce Banner is an Omega who can't let his heart rate raise. Hulk is an Alpha who wants to get to the Omega trapped in his mind. Tony Stark is a very interested party. Steve Rogers is willing to do anything to make things easier for Bruce. Natasha is a hardcore shipper. Everyone else is caught in the middle.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this story was originally on AO3 and chapters will probably come up on there first, because I can do all their uploading from my iphod, which is a lot easier for me. I update that one once a day, so if anyone wants super fast updates the story is under the same name and username. ll update here as often as I can still (I would think one a week minimum), and just add as many chapters as I have. Chapters are short, but that's mainly because I update quickly. Update: This story gets updated on here once a day as well. Also the format sucks so I have literally write line break. Sorry.

(Line Break)

When Bruce started sweating a bit and his mind got groggy, he figured he was starting to get sick. He had been working himself too hard for too long, and that added with his general stress levels, his changing environment, Hulk's recent appearance (which always left him drained), and his consistently poor diet of take-out food that Tony provided was a the perfect concoction for sickness. But he thought he was getting close to a major breakthrough in creating a much more advanced gamma radiation tracking algorithm, so in the future tracking the tesseract or something similar would be easier. Not that he was hoping to have that type of problem again. Either way, he kept working when he began to feel sick. He figured if it got really bad, then he'd quit it. In the end, it was JARVIS who noticed.

"Dr. Banner, I don't mean to bother you sir, but I was wondering if you had noticed you were going into heat, and if you really thought it would be best to stay in the lab for that process." The calm, even-spoken anamatronic voice questioned through the still air. It was Bruce that bolted upright, panicked.

"Shit."

"Indeed sir."

"Get Tony up here." He said, knowing he'd soon need someone else to help figure everything out. He mentally went over his suppressants regime. He was behind. With all the traveling, and the Hulk, and everything else, well things had simply slipped his mind. He didn't think it could be more than a day or two, but the fact of the matter was, when you had been suppressing yourself for twenty-ish years, and doctors suggested having a minimum of one heat a year to keep you healthy, well a day or two was all it took.

"Sir, I'd like to remind you of Tony's sexual identification as a pansexual Alpha and question how that may affect this problem and whether or not you are still certain Tony should come into this laboratory." JARVIS said, jerking Bruce back to the present.

"Fuck JARVIS, you're a lifesaver. Can you get Tony on some sort of line or something?"

"Assuming you mean vocal communication I will have it set up in a moment sir."

"And JARVIS?"

"Yes sir?"

"How does my voice sound?" JARVIS' answer wasn't immediate, and Bruce found the need to clarify. "I mean is my voice arousing JARVIS?"

"No more than usual sir." JARVIS answered, and incredibly, as Bruce sank down on a stool, he was able to laugh.

(Line Break)

"Sir Bruce Banner wishes to speak to you." JARVIS said loudly, trying to be heard over the giggling beta that Tony was in bed with. The girl jumped in surprise and Tony wrapped an arm around her.

"JARVIS what did I tell you about interrupting me in a situation like this? Tell him I'm busy."

"Sir I don't think we have time to waste over him insisting and you trying to refuse."

"JARVIS, what in the world could be more important than Lilac-"

"Lily!" The girl butted in, giggles changing to an offended tone.

"Lily here, especially at a time like this?"

"Doctor Banner is going into heat sir." JARVIS said calmly. Lily sat up a little in the sheets, trying to cover her naked body with them.

"Maybe I should go.. Do you two have some kind of arrangement or something?"

"Actually, no." Tony said, looking up pointedly at the intercom origin of the voice. "So I'm sure Doctor Banner can manage just fine on his-"

"Heart rate sir." JARVIS interrupted, as impatient as JARVIS was able to get.

Tony was silent for just a moment before he suddenly pointed to the door and screamed "Out Lilac!", Shoving her unceremoniously out of the bed.

"Well I-" She started, but Tony waved her off, jumping out of bed and shoving her clothes after her.

"Yeah yeah, complain, whine, whatever. Glad I'm not dealing with this in the morning, exit's right out the elevator at the ground floor, hurry up." He shut the door after her when she was only half dressed, beginning to get dressed himself.

"Shall I send Lily flowers tomorrow sir?" JARVIS asked.

"Make sure you say they're for Lilac."

(Line Break)

"Sir you're connected to Tony now." JARVIS said to Bruce, who was now half curled-up on the lab chair and rubbing at his temples. Hulk seemed to have noticed what was happening.

"Bruce, buddy, what's going on? What can I do for you? Heard you might need the temperature turned down." Bruce knew Tony was joking his way through my nerves, but for once he didn't think he could deal with it. He didn't think he had long.

"Call Fury. Find an omega to get me to the Hulk room in the quickest but smoothest way possible. I'll need-" He cut off halfway through in a moan as he felt his legs get doused in wet, sticky, slickness. For the first time Tony thought of Bruce, starting to get loose and horny. He felt his clock stirring with the interest that hadn't quite left from Lily. But it also reminded him that there might not be much time. He needed to stay logical.

"Bruce, don't worry. I'll take care of everything. Just try not to get big, green, and sexual yet and I'll have someone help you soon. Is he a problem during heat?" Tony asked, already getting JARVIS to find him an Omega employee and pilot.

"Yeah, a bit." He said, though that was more than an understatement. He didn't try to stop all heats completely, despite the health problems it caused, just for fun. He had had one heat with Hulk, and that was enough to turn him away from it forever. He went constantly back and forth between his two forms, any sort of stimulation for Bruce automatically causing Hulk to come, and Hulk being angrier than ever because he was an Alpha who was always standing where an in-heat Omega had just been. Bruce came-to completely a week later, miles from where he started, naked and covered in puke and his natural lube. He wasn't sure when he had last eaten or drank, but he was dehydrated and weak, unable even to get himself in a position to help himself. Every memory he had was of pain and discomfort, either trying his very best to hold in an extremely angry Hulk, or Hulk smashing and rutting against everything in sight. It was pure luck that he had been far from people and not hurt anyone. But even if they could keep it from being dangerous, it was extremely unpleasant.

"Right. Well, Fury can take care of all that. Don't worry about anything. I'm having Clint come to get you now."

"Tell him if Hulk comes, tranquilizers. No questions asked."

"Understood."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, thanks for the support guys!  
I'm surprised by how many people have read this, and it's only been a day. In this chapter you get to meet Clint and Fury. (Who in this case, is rather filled with Fury. I'm sorry. That was bad.) I think we're still trigger warning free. Reminder that this is still unbeta'd. Review if you like! I'm not totally sure where I'm going with this yet so if there's anything you want to see go ahead and tell me. I know these chapters are short, that may change eventually, but right now that's just means faster updating anyway.

(Line Break)

Clint walked into the lab, his bow over his shoulder and a few syringes in his pocket. He glanced at Bruce, the way he was bent over on the chair, chest heaving, eyes closed, hair clinging to his head in sweat. He looked more than just in heat, he looked in pain.

"Hey Bruce." The man jerked up a little, a pained noise escaping his lips. "Woah, woah, didn't mean to scare you. I'm just going to take you to the Hulk room." He walked over and stood by him awkwardly. "Do you need some help up?" Bruce didn't answer immediately. The whole situation was beyond humiliating. He reached out and gripped Clint's arm, and stumbled to his feet, trying to take deep breathes without hyperventilating. He needed to keep his heart rate down, the Hulk was beating, pounding against the side of his head, if he knew he was right on the edge of his "red zone", where he normally started feeling the ever-present headache grow stronger, and fighting off Hulk would become a real struggle.

"You good?" Clint asked, but he could see Bruce was far from it. The man nodded anyway. "I'm taking you up to the roof, then we have a helicopter all set for SHIELDs headquarters. Whole thing should take 15 minutes."

"I'm good. Lets just get going."

(Line Break)

"Hey Patchy, I'm sending Bruce your way. New Hulk room is finished right? Just like the old one?" Tony asked the other person on JARVIS's line as he spun in a desk chair.

"What did you do Tony?" Fury asked, voice tired. The SHIELD headquarters were still in the process of being remade, and it was more work than he could handle. Not to mention the council was still chewing out his ass.

"I didn't do anything. Though if you want me to I definitely will." Tony responded, voice rippling with soft laughter.

"Just tell me what's going on Tony."

"Little Brucie is going into heat." Tony sung, and Fury dug the heal of his hand into forehead, trying to calm the pain.

"And that's my problem because?"

"Extra horny sex has a tendency to raise the heart rate." Tony said, pleased to know something Fury didn't. Fury sat bolt upright.

"I'm assuming Bruce is on the way."

"Be there in fifteen. So Hulk room?"

"It's ready." He said, glancing at the new glass structure. "But it's pretty useless when we're not in air. And truthfully, it's more of a deterrence than a real prison."

"Well if I were you I'd get that into air and have all Alphas bail ship." Tony said, happily imagining the anger across Fury's face.

"I am personally going to slit both of your throats. After I casterate you."

"Come on Anger, don't be a sourpuss. I have nothing to do with it. I'm just trying to help you guys out." The was a long beep on the other end.

"Sir, I believe he hung up on you." JARVIS said.

"Yep, I can hear that JARVIS. I'd be mad if this whole situation weren't so fucking funny."

(Line Break)

"This take off needs to be as smooth as possible." Clint commanded as he pulled his arm away from Bruce, and the other man collapsed onto the chair with a grunt. Clint made a mental note to be more careful in the future. The pilots wary eyes glanced back at them, but she nodded.

"How do you feel about flying Bruce?"

"Hate it." He murmured, but he closed his eyes and decided to deal with it like he always did; by pretending it wasn't happening. He had always been a bit worried about planes, and not long after Hulk began his existence he had came to when Bruce was in a tiny plane, causing it to crash and kill the three other people in it. Since then it had changed from a worry to a terror, but SHIELD had forced him to become used to it once again. When possible he made sure he was knocked out for the ride, but he was to the point that he could mostly function normally when in the air. It was better in the SHIELD headquarters where the ride was smooth, worse on little planes where he could always see outside. This happened to be one of those planes, so he kept his eyes firmly shut and steadied his breath.

"Oh. Uh, that was sort of rhetorical you know, just for something to say." Clint said sheepishly, sitting down on the floor next to him. "But I'm right here, and anything I can do for you I will."

"You should be strapped into a seat." The pilot said, glancing back at Clint.

"I'll be fine. Besides, super smooth take off, remember?" He looked back at Bruce. "What should I do?"

"Distract me." Bruce said, as the seat rumbled beneath him. He tried to ignore how it stimulated him, the small bulge in the front of his pants. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to turn away from Clint who was pointedly ignoring it.

"You know, Fury's going to throw a complete hissy fit. I can already see it coming." The helicopter shook a bit as it rose into the air, and Clint cast the pilot a warning look.

"I know. I can't decide if I'd rather have him yell now and get all the crap done in one bout or not deal with any more shit then I'll already have to." Bruce said, trying to keep the words calm and collected.

"If I were you I'd get it over with. It'll probably go in one ear and out the other." Clint answered, and the helicopter lurched. Bruce moaned in a sort of hungry pleasure but it was followed up by fear immediately after. His heart rate monitored beeped and the numbers turned red.

"What's that mean?" Clint asked, his hand shifting towards the syringes in his pocket.

"It means you should just keep talking without me or Hulk answering." Bruce murmured, bending over in his seat.

"Right." Clint said, his tongue searching for a topic. "You know, we're the only omegas on the team. Everyone assumes superheroes should be Alphas. There's no betas either, though those are more rare. Steve used to be an Omega. Serum changed him. Must've been interesting. I think most of the employees of SHIELD are alphas too. Which is strange, I thought Fury would like people who he could hold that over, but whatever works I guess. I don't know what exactly you want so I'm going to have Fury get you some water and blankets and dildos and everything. I wonder if Fury will leave. I bet he's never seen an Omega in heat before, at least not full on heat. He's always busy, and he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy you want to spend heat with anyway." Clint babbled on, kept talking even after that, but Bruce was focusing on breathing in, out, in, out. Easing his heart rate, ignore the stimulation, not thinking about the flying, pretending his head wasn't pounding. He felt the plane start to descend, to shake and, in his mind, fall from the sky. In reality it went slowly down, almost drifting, till it landed lightly onto the deck, having been waved in without question. Fury came running out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This chapter has a bit of sex and grossness. I think I can keep doing one chapter a day, but they'll stay short. Some people may disagree with my description of SHIELD's prison, but watching how easily Thor escaped i think it's accurate. And if not... Well this is an AU and this is how I chose to portray the prison so... As always, if there's anything you want tell me, and reviews and greatly appreciated.

(Line Break)

Clint stepped out before Bruce, as a protective shield.

"I'm really not sure it's best that you see him." Clint said, blocking the door.

"Relax, this isn't my first rodeo." Fury stepped closer, but Clint didn't move, his hand subconsciously moving towards his bow.

"You don't have the qualifications to handle this. I'm telling you to back away. Go get another Omega to help me carry him. When he's in his Hulk room, and I am watching, you can talk to him. Until then, I think you're way out of your realm with this one."

"You think you can command me on my own base?" Fury asked, leaning towards Clint threateningly.

"If it's for the safety of this base, then yes, I do. Besides director, why don't you look down for a second?" Fury's pant billowed extensively at the crotch, and for a moment both stared at it. "Your hormones are acting up Fury. I really think it might be best if you take yourself out of the situation. Maria Hill is a beta, right? Maybe it would be good to let her take this one. You can still consult and everything, just not be so personally involved."

Fury didn't answer, instead he turned, put his hand to his head, and started talking to the ear piece. "I need an able bodied Omega to the flight deck. I need all Alphas off board. I need to know how many workers that leaves us with. I need this ship flying as soon as possible. I need the Hulk room set up with-" He turned towards Clint. "What does he need?"

"Well, he's not really up to talking right now, but I'd think water, food, blankets-"  
Fury cut him off halfway through by speaking into the earpiece again, "Any possible thing an Omega might want during heat besides an Alpha. And extra clothes, if that's not included in there somewhere. I want Maria Hill in my quarters for a full debriefing. Everything understood?" Fury walked off of the flight deck, back downstairs. He still could smell him. Normally Bruce's scent was a bit-off putting, especially for Alphas. His scent was a mixture of his Omega scent, a combination of sugar cookies and something flowery, with Hulk's Alpha spice, a hot so deep it burned one's nostrils if they inhaled too deeply. Depending on when Hulk last took form, Bruce's fertility and heart rate, everything changed the ratio of scents. But it was always not quite natural, slightly off-putting. In heat, this wasn't true. It wasn't a mixture, it was just a sharp Omega smell, that permeated that air and could be smelled across the flight deck. Even Clint actively noticed it.

Clint looked back at Bruce. "How are doing in there?"

"Good." Bruce choked out, shifting in his seat in his effort not rut against it. "Thanks."

"No problem. I wasn't sure if he was completely in his right mind or not, didn't think it was worth risking it." As he was speaking a man with short, spiked brown hair walked out onto the deck and to the helicopter. Clint recognized him as the man Tony had caught playing Galaga. He hoped Bruce wouldn't notice, and that him playing video games during a world crisis was a one time mistake.

"You need help?"

"Yep, I think maybe getting this guy out." He motioned to Bruce.

"He hurt or something?"

"Sort of. We're taking him to the Hulk room."

"Dr. Banner!" He said loudly, jumping in the helicopter. "I'm a big fan of the way you-"

"Don't." Bruce commanded, cutting him off before he finished quoting Tony.

"I'd be extra careful not to make him angry." Clint said, grimacing. "Get on the other side of him." They both wrapped an arm around him and lift him slightly, helping him get on his feet. "Okay, you ready Bruce?"

"Whenever you are." He muttered. They walked him slowly to the door, Bruce counting his breath, eyes closed.

"Small step here."

And like that, they made it the rest of the way to the Hulk room. Maria Hill was waiting to open the door for them. Inside, there was a mattress, blankets, a pillow, a whole case of water, a stack of protein bars, special protein drinks, a few different outfits, a few things of lube, and a number of different dildos. Maria hit the button so the door opened. Clint brought him forward slowly.

"I'm going to set you on a mattress now, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer, but slowly lowered him down. He and the other man went out the door, and Maria let it slid shut.

"You two are dismissed." Maria said, and Clint wanted to complain, but he knew in the end it wouldn't make much difference, so they both simply walked away.

Maria walked over and tapped on the glass lightly. "Banner, Banner you with me?" Bruce didn't like the movement, it made him feel like he was on display. Really, he might is well have been. Two men were standing guard near the button, and Maria was pacing back and forth a bit, staring.

"What?" Bruce asked, trembling on the mattress. He had to concentrate to hear her over the roars in his head.

"I'm going to leave the full lecture for Fury, because he is very angry. Let's get to the important part." Maria said, standing still for a moment with her eyes drilling into Bruce. "This prison room can't stop Hulk. It drops him into the ocean. Most likely he can get out, he swims till he finds land, and we have a problem. If at all possible, that shouldn't happen. We will get you more food, water, or anything else you need if possible. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." He muttered, and she nodded once, and left the room.

This seemed to quench the Hulk for a time. Now that he was in a semi-safe environment, and no one was screaming, he was able to lower his heart rate. Slowly, the headache faded to a dull pounding- worse than normal; not impossible to manage. But this brought his mind straight back to his heat.

Every nerve in him was on edge. Every time he wasn't reminding himself not to he found himself starting to rut on whatever was closest. His body became covered in sweat and his erection refused to die down, no matter his pain or willpower. He took his shirt off, tried to mop the sweat off his face, chest and neck. Tried not to notice how the movement caused the fabric to rub against his dick, his ass. He took off his shoes next, trying to keep everything decent. He ate a protein bar. Drank some nasty, and peach-and-puke flavored something. He crawled over to the water, uncapped one, tried to take a swig, ended up dumping half of it onto himself when he shook.

Finally it was too much. The guards, the people that would sometimes walk quickly through the room, but always glance his way, it didn't matter. He got on his hands and knees and peeled off his pants slowly, unable to have fabric grinding against him any longer. He never wore any underwear, and for that he was glad. He collapsed against the bed again, and felt his heart beat raise in shame.

For the first time, his Omega scent changed. The cookies and flowers quickly shifted, with no warning, to a deep, encompassing heat that burned the nose and made the eyes water of anyone near it, even the guards. Bruce laid on the bed and heaved, trying to steady himself. Reminding himself what was at stake, and then realizing that only heightened his nerves. He tried his normal techniques. In, out, in, out. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. In, out, in, out. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Miraculously, he was able to keep Hulk back.

For the next few hours, everything was a blur for Bruce. Hulk was constantly on the edge of taking over, enough for him at times to lose consciousness. He found himself lying off the mattress, sometimes his hands at his gaping hole or firm erection. Sometimes he had puked. Rather than moving, he laid in it, the puke, lube, and sweat mixing and churning underneath him. There was constant pounding in his head, so much that at times he jerked with it. The screams of Hulk were never ceasing, his ears ringing with the intensity. And eventually, when Bruce could simply hold it in no longer, other people heard them as well.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So this chapter is especially short. The only excuse I have for that is that I officially became a published author today and I've been celebrating. (Yes I'm bragging shhhh.) I still wanted to be able to get you at least something today so. This chapter has minor allusions to abusive relationships, nothing at all graphic but you've been warned. Also, there's a little snippet that has a major meaning behind it for what's going to come later in this story. So whoever can catch those few words of foreshadowing wins today's metaphorical cookies! Hope you enjoy the chapter, even though it's short.

(Line Break)

Bruce began heaving and shaking, his whole body twitching as his skin turned green and his muscles began to bulge in various places. One of the guards paged Maria, and she came running. Hulk finished forming, the green giant jumping to his feet and throwing his head back as he shrieked with rage, his body taunt, naked, and erect. Maria stopped in front of the glass.

"Hey. Hey knock it off! I need to talk to you!" Maria screamed up at him, remembering Fury's instructions that she must demand attention if she wanted to be noticed.

He beat his fists against the ground as he leaned down to look at her.

"You do that and I'll drop this thing right out of the sky." She said, and motioned for the guard to press the button to show him just how far that would be. They were above the clouds.

"Want little-Bruce!" He screamed, jumping for the glass.

"Hey! What did I just say? No smashing!" She put her hands on her hips and he snarled.

"Hulk smash if little-Bruce don't come back!"

"Only you can bring Bruce back Hulk. You know that. If you want him back you bring him back." This seemed to resonate with Hulk. Slowly his muscles starting shrinking, growing pale. He fell to the ground, Bruce panting and scared. He remembered a moment of green and rage, with Maria screaming next to him, but the memory was hard to grasp, almost dream-like.

"What happened?" He choked out.

"You lost control." She said, glaring down at him. "Apparently, I need to babysit you." She walked over and sat in a nearby chair, watching him. Bruce felt the pounding in his head grow exponentially once again, without any warning. His muscles expanded, his heart raced.

"Bruce!" Hulk screamed, and the body shifted back again, before Hulk was even fully off standing. Bruce's curled up body shifting in pain. But it was only there for a moment before it turned green. Then back to pink, then green again, now in rapid succession, Bruce's body growing and shrinking too fast to be sure of what form he was taking. Maria stood up and walked back to the flurry of activity in the little glass room. Eventually, it was Hulk that took control once again.

"You promised little Bruce!" He screamed at Maria, fists poised. "Now I smash!"

"Wait Hulk! Wait!" Her mouth searched for something worthy enough to warrant him stopping. "Is it just an Omega you want? We can get you an Omega!"

"I want my Omega!" Hulk said, pounding one fist against the ground for emphasis of the third word.

"If you let me talk to Bruce for a second, I think I can get him for you." She said.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Hulk stared at her for a moment after she finished speaking.

"Hulk get little Bruce now." More slowly, relaxed, a man fell the few feet to the ground and curled up once again.

"Listen Bruce, I don't know that we have much time." He didn't look up, and she snapped her fingers at him. He reached up and grabbed his head as he formed a tight ball out of his body, as if shrinking smaller still.

"I'm listening." The words came out slurred in his half open, drool releasing mouth.

"Hulk isn't going to be appeased much longer. Now I know it's hard, but you need to try to keep him in. If you can't we are going to have to drop you from this plane. We have flown over an uninhabited island where you will be able to finish out your heat with as much comfort as we can provide. But I think this room will feel like your dream home in comparison."

"Yes ma'am." He said, and the words were dazed, not concretely proving that he understood.

"I suppose that'll have to do." She walked back over and sat in her chair, knowing it was only a matter of time.

It was a longer time than she expected. Bruce had half-comprehended was going on, and laid on the slightly-cracked floor and counted his breathing, trying to think of a happy place. His mind drifted.

He was back with his mother, smiling and playing before his dad got home. Though he was not yet quite three, she was teaching him to read, and he was learning with positively astounding speed. But that hardly mattered. It was the way she laughed, the way she ruffled his hair. The way she kissed his cheek, and he kissed hers, and they could almost forget the bruises were there. As long as he didn't think of any of the moments before or after, this was his happy place.

But the happiness didn't last. It never did. Soon he realized that he was alone, his mother dead, laying on a cold, partially broken floor, and being humiliated in front of a brand new set of guards. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, and his ass and dick ached for attention. The water was the most pressing problem however. Whenever he came back from his Hulk form, he was always hungry, thirsty. He slowly slid over, crawling to the bottles of water. He was able to drink up a few gulps, and went he went to set the bottle down, that's when Hulk decided to fight back hard. Water sloshed around the plastic, then fell down hard, first splattering across the ground, then rolling slowly across the broken floor. Bruce's skin only had to get a tint of green, and the button was pressed, and he was falling.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I think this chapter is trigger free. And also a bit late... I fell asleep writing it. But we're passing the five thousand word mark now so that's good!

(Line Break)

Hulk smashed through the wall, pounding wildly in an attempt to leave his cage. Soon he was falling next to the splintered glass casket. There was nothing to be done but fall deeply into the see through blue water, then swim up past the wreckage, burst to the surface. Hulk turned his head from side to side, the ever-present waves on one side, and the brown sand and green vegetation on the other. He swam smoothly, arms arching and legs pumping, towards the island. Soon he was climbing onto the hot sandy shore.

He needed someone to help him get to little-Bruce. Normally all he wanted from Bruce was to be let out more but now, well now that was far from the truth. He needed someone smart. The Tin-man was smart. Hulk bounding into the woods, looking around and screaming for the tin-man as he ran.

(Line Break)

"Is there any reason Hulk would be requesting Tony?" Maria asked Fury, closing the door behind her as she walked quickly into his office.

"I think they're friends." Fury answered, not bothering to comment that both of Bruce's smells still clung to her.

"Hulk has friends?" She grunted with a smile and Nick gave her an appraising look.

"Don't underestimate him Hill. He may not be the smartest being we've employed but don't think that means he's totally idiotic." Nick scolded. "Besides, I think he likes the fact that he can beat him as much as he wants."

"Well what do we do about Hulk wanting Tony?" She said, a smirk playing on the edge of her lips.

"He's on the island now?"

"Yes sir." Fury thought for a moment, leaning back in his chair and exhaling the breath he hadn't known he was holding in.

"We can only keep this from Tony so long you know. I think it'll be best to just tell him. And tell him if he really wants to see Hulk, he can. But remind him that currently Hulk is a prisoner under our care, more dangerous than Tony has ever seen him before, and in heat if Bruce comes back. Those are all things that need to be taken into consideration."

"Anger, if I may," Tony's voice suddenly cut in from the ceiling and Maria's eyes snapped up to the little bit of technology housed in the corners. Fury looked more tired than surprised. "I understand your rules and I don't want to die either, but who can claim the guy for wanting me? I have to give the guy what he wants."

"You have to wear the suit."

"Talking to you from the inside of it on my way over there." Tony clarified almost before Fury finished speaking.

"If Bruce comes back you must leave immediately."

"Hey, I may be a horny bastard, but I don't spend heats with Omegas that don't want to spend heats with me when they're out of heat. I'm a bit of a gentleman, actually."

"Would anyone besides you agree?" Maria asked, his reputation being well proven by almost every SHIELD employee.

"As soon as I'm done with Hulk, why don't you pop over here and check?" He asked, and the like clicked off after his last word was spoken.

"I'd go watch that if I were you." Fury said, shooing Maria away. "And don't make good on Tony's offer."

(Line Break)

Hulk wasn't hard to see, his trail of destruction making a perfect path all the way from the water on. Tony could also practically feel the dark spice scent rolling off him, Bruce not dampening it in the slightest. Soon Hulk was seeing a little metal bug up in the sky.

"Tin man!" He screamed, jumping up and down while waving his arms. Tony flew down till he was just out of his reach.

"What's up my big green buddy?" Tony asked, throwing him a little salute.

"Hulk want little-Bruce." The beast commanded him.

"Bruce is inside of you. You know that." Tony smiled and the Hulk grew angry.

"Tin man smart! Get little-Bruce out!"

"Why do you want Bruce anyway?"

"My omega." Hulk growled. "Hulk take care of my omega." Tony froze and looked him over.

"Your omega? Are you two bonded or something?"

"My omega." Hulk repeated. "Get me my omega."

"I can't Hulk. Not right now at least." Tony said, and Hulk jumped up and grabbed him out of the air, then yanked him down and smashed him against the ground.

"Stupid Tin Man!" Hulk screamed. "Stupid stupid stupid!" Tony's metal cracked around him, and for a moment his vision swarmed.

"Sir, the suit has been badly damaged." JARVIS said softly, as Tony laid against the ground. Hulk picked him up and smashed him again, and Tony moaned. "Sir we should get out of here."

"Just shut up and look up all you can about Bruce and Hulk's relationship. Especially this bonded theory."

"I agree with Hulk sir."

"What? That they're bonded?"

"That you are not currently being very intelligent."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter is trigger free. And also, I'm not sure if this is obvious, so the part where Fury and Maria are speaking goes back in time just a little to bit, to when Tony and Hulk first start talking. I hope that's not too confusing. Sorry.

(Line Break)

Tony flew up, trying to avoid Hulk's grasp as Hulk bounded after him.

"JARVIS how's it coming? We're on a tight sechdule here."

"This may take some time sir. I think it would be best if you reported back to the lab and we searched through information together." The voice said, crackling sometimes through the broken speakers.

"Tin Man stop moving! Hulk hurt Tin Man! Tin man mean to Hulk!" Hulk roars came from below as he tried to jump high enough to reach Tony.

"Hulk you know I'd never be mean to you. I'm doing the best I can buddy." Tony called down.

"Tin Man's best not good enough!" Hulk screamed.

"Sir, I don't know how long you're going to be able to stay in the air like this for." JARVIS chimed in, as he tried desperately to keep everything essential running.

"Fine. You know what JARVIS? If you can't do your job I'll do it for you. I'll just ask Bruce."

"Sir I don't think that's a good idea."

"Don't be a party pooper JARVIS."

"You have not yet installed any scent blocking abilities sir."

"Don't doubt my self control JARVIS." Tony warned, and then he began screaming down to Hulk. "Hey buddy, you trust me don't you?" He flew down a little to be heard. Hulk grabbed him out of the air like a little bug and slammed him down on the ground. Everything that was still running in the suit suddenly gave way. "No!" Hulk screamed, lifting his fist.

"Woah Hulk! Woah! If you kill me I can't help you and Bruce. I know you want that right? Don't you want help?"

"Yes." Hulk said, his voice that of a pouty child. He slowly set his fist on the ground.

"Good Hulk. Thank you. Now, I think it might help if you let me talk to Bruce for a bit. How about you let me talk to Bruce, and then in a little bit I'll talk to you again, when I know more of what you should do. Just remember, Bruce is really smart too, so he could help me." Tony said, trying to assure Hulk this was no trick. Unlike most people, Tony liked Hulk, his big funny green friend. Sometimes he tried to kill him sure, but Tony didn't really hold it against him. He thought of Hulk as a part of Bruce that had lived through so much violence, had seen so much pain, that it was the only way he knew how to deal with the hard situations was through violence. Tony thought it was something they could work through together. After all, Hulk could be reasoned with, at least by him, and everyone made mistakes.

"Tin Man promise he help Hulk?" Hulk asked, slightly apprehensive.

"Yes. I promise I'm trying to help you."

Hulk didn't answer. But his form slowly shrunk and pale, collapsing back onto the ground as Bruce took control. They scent hit Tony harder than even Hulk had.

(Line Break)

"We need to get him out of there." Maria said as Tony was bashed against the ground by Hulk.

"Just give him a second." Fury said, leaning towards the monitor.

"In a second he might be dead." Maria said, crossing her arms.

"I trust them both." Fury said, but at the same moment Hulk smashed Tony against the ground again, and metal could be seen splintering.

"We said if he wasn't in the suit he couldn't be out there. I don't know that that counts as being in the suit anymore. We can't afford to lose one of our best scientists, even if he is a-"

"Hill." Fury said, putting his hand up to silence her. The Hulk and Tony were talking now, coming to some sort of agreement. Then Tony was sitting up and Hulk was shrinking, molding his form and atoms into something new. "That's it! Get him out!" Fury said, and Maria barely was able to hold back the "I told you so" on the tip of her tongue.

(Line Break)

The smell, purely Bruce and completely intoxicating, had no problem permeating the suit.

"Bruce. Hey buddy I need to talk to you." He closed his eyes so they wouldn't drift over his friends naked form.

Bruce rolled over a little. His mind clouded with bits of seconds of smashing Tony against the ground. Tony had always promised that it was okay, that Hulk liked him. And yet there the man stood on shaking knees in a falling apart suit. There was no telling what was underneath. He had hurt Tony. Beautiful, elegant, funny Tony who's scent reminded him of curry powder, cinnamon, and saffron. It was very masculine, but also a little bit playful in Bruce's mind, which could simply come from a knowledge of Tony. And he wanted it bad.

But at the same time, there were people running at Tony, parachutes trailing behind them. They were pulling him back screaming, "You have to go! You have to go now!" And Bruce knew he must've hurt him bad. And he wanted so bad to follow them, but all he could do is watch as he was pulled away.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Technically as I'm writing this it's not midnight yet. No trigger warning needed. For those of you who don't know, Survivor is a television show where they put people in challenging environments (jungles etc.) and see if they can survive. There's more than that, but that's all you really need to know for Tony's use of it to make sense.

(Line Break)

"I needed to talk to him!" Tony said angrily as he was pushed into a room with Fury and Maria.

"It's not a safe time to talk to Bruce." Fury said distractedly, paying much more attention to the man on the screen than the one in front of him. He rubbed his eyes for a moment and leaned back, as he caught his gaze drifting a little too interestedly over his naked form.

"Oh, but you're allowed to join this little pow-wow." Tony said, attempting to cross his arms and causing a chunk of metal to fall in the process. "That was for emphasis."

"I'm far from Bruce. I'm not putting him in any danger."

"No, right, you throwing him in the middle of Survivor during heat is definitely the safest thing."

"I made that decision for the safety of this ship. I gave Hulk the option of staying here if he did not damage the room. He refused. I was simply keeping our agents safe." Maria interjected in her defense.

"What about Bruce? Did you give Bruce a choice?" He asked.

"Mr. Stark you do not have the authority to question me at this point in time. Now in order to continue with the goal of keeping our agents safe I am sending you back to your tower, and you will have no contact with Dr. Banner until he is out of heat."

"You're not in charge of me Fury-in-training."

"I am the leader in this matter, your suit is not on, and we will have no problem forcing you to comply with proper procedures of this facility if necessary. You have made rash decisions, endangering one of our employ-"

"Prisoners." Tony amended for her. "He's not being payed, and he couldn't leave even if he wanted to."

"Be that as it may, you were putting his life in danger. It is my right, in fact, it is my responsibility to order you off this ship. Just be pleased I'm nice enough to have you escorted to your tower in a jet rather than pushed off into the sea."

"That sounds familiar actually."

(Line Break)

Bruce curled up and tried to take deep breaths. Keep the beast he always felt inside of him at bay. Think logically.

Tony could talk. He could stand. He had been shaking, but on his feet. Tony was tough and everything but there were limits. And yet, Bruce had shaky memories of smashing him against the ground. Of the sounds of splintering metal and little moans. Of green hot rage that covered his eyes and gave him a bitter taste in his mouth.

He couldn't deal with all the remembering. With all the pain of knowing he had hurt Tony. And for the first time in awhile, he let Hulk come willingly.

As soon as Hulk came he was angry. He was often angry, but not to this extent. Tony had left him. SHIELD had taken Tony. No one would let him get to Bruce. He thought he was being manipulated at every turn. They were trying to hurt him. The only thing he knew to do was hurt them back.

First he ripped trees out of the ground, hurled them futilely into the air at the SHIELD headquarters, which was already making their way out to safety towards the sea. When that didn't work he jumped up to the top of the trees, trying to see over them and get a good look at the ship. He didn't think he could leap all the way there, so he tried to form different plans of attack, but thinking made him antsy, he wanted action. He grabbed the boulder, a bit more aerodynamic, and chucked it up at them. This came mere yards from the wing.

(Line Break)

Inside the facility was panic. "He could do some serious damage if he wanted to." Maria said, her eyes nervously glued on the screen.

"But he won't." Fury said with relative ease.

"You have too much faith in people."

"It's just logic. We can get away a lot faster, and eventually Bruce will come back and we'll be fine. I'm betting no more than a few thousand dollars in damage, not including rebuilding the Hulk room." Maria looked over Fury as he said it.

"You're on."

(Line Break)

Tony groaned a little as the armor was taken off his battered body. "I thought I programmed you to be gentle!"

"Sir there are pieces of metal embedded into your flesh. How do you suggest I take it out gently?" JARVIS said, as the robots finished taking off the last major chunk of metal.

"You just shut up and- ow!- Just shut up and call Steve." He said, knocking away a robot as it tried to take a small piece of knee plate out of his thigh.

"Captain America sir?"

"Good ol' Mr. Red, White, and Blue Balls." He said, as if this was somehow clarification. "Tell him we're breaking Bruce out."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I think this is trigger warning free. Also, you get to see the rest of the team this chapter which makes me super excited.

(Line Break)

"What's going on with Bruce?" Steve asked, voice worried on the other end of line.

"Thirty second basic rundown, he went into heat, that makes him turn a little green, so SHIELD stuck him in the Hulk room. He did a bit of damage to it so they dropped him on some island."

Steve was silent for a moment, mulling the situation over. "I agree that sounds horrible Tony, but what exactly are we suppose to do about it?"

"Steve!" Tony said, in mock surprise. "I thought Boy Scouts were suppose to be prepared for everything."

"Tony I was never a Boy Scout." Steve said, trying not to be irritated with him already. "What are we doing about Bruce?"

"Getting him out of there of course!" Tony said flippantly.

"And then what? We're both alphas, and we have no safe place to put Hulk."

"Steve, do you trust me?" Tony asked, whispering so he'd have to listen carefully.

"No." Steve said, and Tony laughed.

"I guess that'll have to do."

(Line Break)

"Hey, uh, Clint, you're an Omega right?" Steve asked tentatively.

"What's this about Steve?" Clint asked, tired.

"How willing are you to do a little... freelance?" Steve said, searching his mind for the word.

"I don't do freelance."

"But Bruce really needs our help."

"Against SHIELD then I'm assuming?" Clint sighed, a rush of air against the phone speaker.

"We're not attacking them or anything." Steve clarified.

"But we're going against their orders."

"Basically." Steve took a deep breath. "You in?"

"I'm in."

(Line Break)

"Nat. How do you want to make a couple million bucks?"

"I'm on a job. Where'd you even get this number?" The connection was grainy and both ends were hard to hear.

"You're not the only one who can play spy."

"I don't just play spy! I-"

"Calm down red." Tony cut her off. "My guess is you can finish that up tonight, get on a fancy little plane, and be here by the morning."

"Why would I do that?" Natasha asked, and Tony could practically hear that she was crossing her arms.

"A few million bucks." He said.

"Is sex involved?" Natasha asked, and scoffed when the reply wasn't immediate. "Tony! I'm not some prostitute."

"You sleep with people for your job." He pointed out absentmindedly.

"Completely different."

"Regardless," Tony said with a little laugh, "You don't have to sleep with anyone. I only meant sex could be involved because Bruce is in heat, so you know... Valid concern."

"What does that have to do with the job?"

"SHIELD is taking really bad care of him."

"Why is SHIELD taking care of him?" Natasha asked, letting worry seep into her voice for a moment before coming stoic.

"He turns green a lot when he's in heat."

Natasha sighed. "Tomorrow morning?"

"By like nine-ish."

"Okay. I need to go then."

"Have fun killing people." Tony said, smiling.

"Tony I'm not-"

"Sure. And we should talk about free sex later." He hung up before she could respond.

(Line Break)

"Hey Thor." Steve said, walking down into the kitchen. Thor could almost always be found in the kitchen.

"Captain Steven!" He said, smiling. Thor always seemed glad to see him. "Would you like leftover tomato and cheese on bread?"

"That's pizza, and no thank you, I'm full." Steve took a deep breath, and Thor looked over him curiously. "This might seem weird, but I was wondering if your whole.. Sexuality this was similar to ours. You smell Alpha, but I mean.." Steve smiled sheepishly.

"Yes Captain Steven. I am an Alpha." Thor said smiling. "May I inquire into why you are asking?"

"Bruce is in heat, and SHIELD was suppose to be taking care of him because his heart raises when he's in heat obviously, so uh.. The other guy shows up. But I guess they just dropped him on some island because the room couldn't really contain him and he's really sick but he's not getting any help or anything." Steve words spilled out quickly, ineloquent and poorly spoken. Thor grew somber.

"And we would like to help Dr. Banner I am assuming?"

"As much as possible yes. We're working on it tomorrow."

"I am willing to help. But you must be warned, seeing as he is in heat..."

"Yeah, we understand that." Steve said, cutting him off. "Clint will be the only one getting too close to him so we won't lose our heads."

"Are all the Avengers involved then?"

"Tony was the one that talked to Nat, and I don't know how that went, but everyone else is."

"I hope she is. She seems very useful." Thor said, taking a big bite of pizza.

(Line Break)

Hulk stayed all night long. First he watched the ship drift away, trying to keep throwing things at it despite the growing distance. Then he wrecked a path of destruction through the forest, taking out whatever was closest to him. It was only when it started getting light, and Hulk was covered in sweat and the wreckage of a forest, that Bruce finally collapsed on the ground.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I have what should be good news for you guys. I figured out how to update this on my iPod so this story will be updated daily! Today you'll even get two chapters! Chapters are admittedly short but I hope frequent updates make up for it. This chapter I believe is trigger warning free. Reviews and everything keep me going! Hope you like the story so far!

(Line Break)

A lot of arguing went on with the Avengers that were in the tower that night. Whether or not it was safe to move Bruce, where to move him, how to keep him properly cared for but still keep Clint safe. Steve didn't like to say it, because Clint was a very useful member of the team, but he wished that someone else had been the omega. Someone who was better at close contact fighting. They couldn't exactly just throw Clint in a little room with Hulk and expect everything to be perfect. So in the end, there was a slight change of plans, that everyone seemed to feel more comfortable about but Tony. Not completely kidnapping Bruce took out at least a little fun.

(Line Break)

"Everyone know their job?" Steve asked early the next morning, taking over as the natural leader he was. There were somber nods and noises of agreement. "Then let's head out." Clint, Steve, and Nat jumped in a plane, while Thor and Tony stuck to flying. Thor went first, directing a thunderstorm right around Shield's headquarters. It wasn't the least suspicious thing that could be done, but it bought them a bit of time to work on the initial phase. Tony followed after him, darting under the storms to graze over the island in his new, now scent proof, suit. "Looks like Hulk threw quite the party last night." He spoke into the intercom that hooked up to each member of the team, besides the one search for, as he surveyed the ransacked area. After a few moments he saw a naked, shivering body. "But Bruce is the one experiencing the hangover. It's safe to send Clint in, just make sure he has elephant tranqs."

Steve watched Clint as the second checked his parachute. Natasha asked Tony for coordinates. Soon Bruce could hear the whine of a jet over him, but he didn't want to look up, didn't want to deal with any more SHIELD agents or prisons. He wanted to keep people safe, but there wasn't any people here, and there was a reasonable limit.

Clint felt a surge of compassion when he saw the man on the ground, that made him grimace. Bruce was a pale shaking mess, covered in his own feces and vomit, not even bothering to look over when footsteps hit the ground. He seemed to have given up completely.

"Hey Bruce." Clint said, trying to smile as he walked around and knelt in front of the guy. "It's me, Clint."

"How bad did I hurt Tony?" Bruce asked as he opened his eyes, voice cracking from dehydration and the strain of Hulk's screams.

"What? You didn't hurt Tony. I mean, maybe a few bumps and bruises but nothing serious. He's up in the air now."

Bruce eyed him suspiciously for a moment. People had a habit of lying to him if they thought the truth might bring out of the worst in him. "Promise?"

"Promise. They just pulled out Tony so he wouldn't fuck you." Clint said, not realizing his mistake till he saw Bruce's cock give an excited twitch, and him squeeze his mouth as if to keep himself quiet. "You're probably thirsty." Clint mumbled, not quite sure how to take care of someone. He pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack. "Can you do this yourself or..?"

Bruce sat up slowly, and grabbed the bottle. He finished it all in one long swig, then breathed out a sigh of relief. "Hungry too?" Clint asked, pulling out protein bars from the bag. "Sorry. I know it would be better if you could have real food, but this is the best we could do right now. We'll get you better stuff later."

Bruce pulled out one the protein bars and began eating hungrily, almost before he got the wrapper off. "We meaning SHIELD?"

"Uh no. We meaning Avengers, actually. We thought you could use a little recon mission."

"Wow." Bruce said, grabbing another bar as he thought that over. "So.. How exactly is this suppose to go?"

"You didn't really seem ready to be moved."

"Probably not best, no." Bruce said, though he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed.

"Normally after Hulk comes this meaning times you're pretty much in control for a little bit, right?" Clint asked, thinking back to when the previous mission had ended and Bruce had mentioned loving when Hulk gave him a couple hours of freedom.

"Well, heat will speed it up I think, but you should have an hour or two."

"He thinks an hour or two Tony." Clint said, pressing the microphone on his headset.

"Roger that. Put me on speaker Clint." Tony said, and Clint obeyed. "Get ready for loud noises Bruce, the princess of rage is getting her palace."

"Palace?" Bruce asked, confused.

"Tony might be exaggerating that a bit, but we're trying to make you a temporarily Hulk proof room to get you out of the elements, and trying to get you real food and stuff to take a bath and whatever else you want." Clint said, weight shifting from one foot to another nervously.

"And SHIELD is okay with this?"

"No one said they have to know. At least not till we can prove that everything's safe."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you to everyone who follow, and to BigtimeHiddlestoner, here's your update! In even brighter news, I think today's update gets me over the 10,000 word mark! And things will start to move along a bit soon I think. Sorry if the beginnings been slow paced. This chapter is trigger free. However, I apologize to all you Jane/Thor shippers, this chapter mentions Thor/Lady Sif because I like that pairing better. My fic, my rules. It won't come up much anyway. Just so you know, Pantene is a hair product. Also this site does not seem to like my formatting. If anything seems confusing to you or just doesn't show up right at all please comment and tell me the problem. Currently my line breaks refuse to show up and it won't let me use anynon-letter characters to mark line breaks? Sorry. I'll fix as soon as I can.)

(Line Break)

"What the fuck is all this?" Fury asked, leaning in to peer at the blackness and rain swirling over the monitor.

"A storm apparently." Maria said. "Should I see if I can send a smaller search plane through it and-"

"No." Fury sighed, shaking his head. "It's Thor. See if you can get him on the line."

Thor wasn't surprised that his phone still rung as he flew through the air. He didn't know about cell towers, or that people near SHIELD headquarters the question of service no longer mattered, so he had no reason to wonder about what was happening. He carefully pulled his phone out of his snug jean pocket and glanced at it to make sure it wasn't a member of the team. He had already learned that WITHHELD meant Fury, so he decided it might be best to answer.

"Hello?"

"Any chance you happen to be creating a storm around SHIELD headquarters right now?" Fury's voice snapped on the other end.

"No sir." Thor said calmly. "Storms can be made outside of my control."

"Oh really. Then where are you right now?"

"In an apartment with Lady Sif. She has come here for the weekend and you have interrupted the beginning of our process of getting intimate." Thor flatlined. He had learned that people of this realm were not up to discussing intercourse as readily and that the subject would normally impede conversation.

"What the fuck do you mean by that? You're right here." His voice rose with anger.

"No I'm not sir. And I mean sexual intercourse, I believe you have the same basic function here, where one-"

"I know what sex is!" Fury screamed, and after his voice got dangerously low. "Get Lady Sif on the line then." Thor froze for just a moment then snorted with laughter.

"Surely your so called Norse mythology isn't so behind that you did not know that Lady Sif is mute."

"Excuse me? I've never heard that."

"Well no offense to your kind but I've read some of the material and it is wrong on many things."

"Fine." Fury said, after a slightly pause. "I'll just hack into your camera then." And it wasn't till a few buttons later that he remembered that he did not have the access codes to hack a Starkphone. "Fuck."

"I'm trying to sir." Thor said, and Fury sighed angrily as Maria couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Fine. But if I find out this is you your ass gets sent straight back to whatever fucking realm you're from and I'll kill you if you ever come back."

"Yes sir." Thor said, and Fury hung up. Right after, Thor heard Tony in his ear piece.

"I see you just got a call from eyepatch."

"Yes Anthony."

"Stop calling me that Demigod."

"I've researched that word. Both of my parents were gods actually. And I call you that out of respect Anthony." Thor said, though it was partly out of spite.

"Whatever. How'd things go with Director Death?"

"If my partner ever comes to this realm she will have to pretend to be mute, but I do not think he is positive that the storm is caused by me." Thor said, and Tony chuckled.

"That all sounds positive to me Pantene."

(Line Break)

"Send out the survey ship." Fury said.

(Line Break)

Steve followed Tony to the cave JARVIS had found for them, as a start pointing for making Bruce's dwelling. The less materials Nat had to bring over the easier and faster this would be.

"Grab a boulder and put it by the entrance." He said, directing to the whole in the face of the rock. They were lucky it was at ground level, so they'd have to deal with bending to get inside it. "If Clint gives you the word, you cover the hole. No going super or anything, okay? I'll protect Clint, you just stay out here till Clint or I say it's clear. Understand Star Spangled Boxers?" Tony asked and Steve blushed.

"My boxers aren't-"

"Lying's a sin Tights. Just tell me whether or not you understand."

"I do."

"Good. You know, this is sort of how they used to bury people. Besides in ice, that is." Tony said, leaning against the wall. Steve grimaced. Neither of the two thoughts were pleasant.

Natasha walked over, carrying so many bags that her back was haunched under the weight. "Couldn't super muscle helping me over here?" She asked, and Steve jumped up to comply. Natasha looked at Tony. "I don't understand why we could not have parked the plane right by the cave."

"Because if Hulk gets out I am not losing another jet." Tony answered, a pouty edge in his voice.

"Get over yourself." Nat answered, bending down to unpack one of bags. "You have like twenty more." She pulled out a camping stove. "Who actually knows how to use one of these?"

"Flags a boy scout." Tony answered dismissively.

"No he isn't Tony. We've all told you this a million times."

"Well then it's about time he becomes one."

(Line Break)

Clint looked down at Bruce nervously.

"Am I going to have to pick you up?" He asked and Bruce white face turned crimson.

"Probably."

"You're covered in basically every bodily fluid." Clint said disgustedly and Bruce chuckled a little.

"Not even half."

"Don't speak too soon. You're forgetting I'm taking care of you till the end of heat." Clint muttered. He didn't know how else to pass the time till Tony's "all clear" signal came.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you to the kind reviews, follows, and favorites! They really keep me going! Wow I'm realizing that all of a sudden Clint is sort of becoming a major character. I didn't mean for that to happen but it did so. I'm going to explain some of my desicions at the end so as not to spoil the plot but I did sort of take some creative liberties in this chapter. This chapter mentions bullying.

(Line Break)

Clint sat down cross legged by Bruce and talked. Bruce even answered occasionally. But as the time past he started getting more and more distracted. About an hour in, Clint decides to bring it up.

"Hulk starting to bother you?" Clint asked as he watched Bruce's figidating. Bruce blushed and shook his head.

"Not exactly."

"Can I ask what it is then?"

"Well.. I sort of was hoping to, you know, get a bit of alone time in when Hulk was quiet and I was feeling mostly okay." Bruce said, letting his eyes fall shut.

"Oh." Clint said. "Oh!" He let out a small, awkward chuckle. "Uh, should I leave you now?"

"No, I shouldn't really do it. I'm not really sure that Hulk wouldn't show up."

"If I got you to wherever Tony is preparing, would that make you feel better about it?" Clint asked. Though the topic wasn't the most comfortable one in the world for him he knew relief would most likely help Bruce a lot.

"Yeah probably."

Clint hit his earpiece. "How much longer Tony?"

"You need it now?" Tony asked, and Clint glanced at Bruce uncertainly.

"It's not a need, but it'd be nice."

"You got it. We'll back away, let you in." Tony said, and Clint didn't respond again. Tony looked around at Steve and Natasha. "Rise and shine folks it's the big day. And finally someone besides walking billboard is putting on a show."

"Thanks Tony." Steve muttered, but Natasha just shook her head quickly and moved on to more important topics.

"Where do we all go now?"

"The plane. Clint's going to bring Bruce in, we'll stay a safe difference away. Then when they're in I'll go and Febreze up the area till the smell isn't totally overwhelming. Then Steve will stand rock duty, I'll be ready to go in if Hulk comes and work on any scientific amenities, and Nat will keep a tab on how the SHIELD's doing and do the more basic stuff like boiling water and looking pretty." Tony said, already starting to walk away. Natasha snorted.

"Looking this hot is anything but basic Tony."

"Okay uh, I'm going to pick you up now Bruce." Clint said, trying to find the best spot to grab the mans naked body as he ran one hand over his bow as stress relief. He leaned down and put one arm around Bruce's surprisingly slender shoulders, and the other right under his knees. He picked him up slowly, turning his head away as Bruce's cock rubbed slightly against his chest, and the man moaned wantonly. It only took a second of Bruce's consciousness to return for his whole head and neck to turn scarlet, but neither mentioned it. Instead, Clint started to babble as he carried him along, his mind having to drift further and further to look for topics of conversation. "This heat stuff really sucks, doesn't it? I mean, obviously more for you than it does for me, but still..." Clint trailed off, thinking. Some Omegas really liked their heats, especially the bonded ones, but for him it was different. Heats were "proof" that he couldn't be what he said he was. "How can an asexual writhe and beg for sex", people sneered? It didn't take long for him to just refuse to mention his sexuality. No one understood. He took suppressants. Even when he didn't, his heats were never like that. He jacked off, sure, that was something every single Omega did when they were in heat. But that didn't mean he wanted anyone touching him in any way sexually, even if he was in heat. And when he wasn't, well he didn't even touch himself like that. But no, it was always the jokes and sneers. "Every Omega begs for a good hard pound into the mattress." "Do you breed by pollination?" "The Omega body is literally programmed for sex." And the worst, "Well then what else would you be good for?" It wasn't quite the same as Bruce, sure. He didn't get violently ill and have to worry about hurting his friends. But whenever "That Time" came around it always made him cringe a bit. It made him wonder if maybe his body was programmed for sex, if there was just something wrong with him. To convince himself that he was still good, that no matter what people said he was not broken or wrong, he looked down at Bruce. At the sticky fluids covering his body and the warm air radiating off of him and the way he shuddered and gasped every once in awhile, the pain seeming to begin to return. Clint told himself that he was doing a good thing for this man. That this was truly helping him, making his life better. And there didn't need to be any sex involved.

(Line Break)

A/N: So I've always sort of pictured Clint as asexual in this story because 1) I like the asexual Clint headcanon and 2) l've always been interested in the dynamics of asexual people in A/B/O universe and how others view them. To be honest, I don't know if there's the possibility of this being realistic with the comics, as I actually haven't read all that many Hawkeye comics, but I've decided that I like it and I'm sticking with it. I do hope you feel the same, but feel free to tell me your thoughts on the matter (as long as you can do so in a polite way.) Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This is shortish update. My apologies. not feeling the best so i wanted to be able to go to bed early.

Clint lifted Bruce into the small hole that Tony had described for him. He laid him down on the slightly damp ground so he could go back for the lamp and blankets they left for them. He took a sniff of them and noticed the reeked of Steve. "Uh, Bruce?" He said, holding the blanket away as he set the lamp down. "Is it okay if-"

"Hand that here." Bruce murmured, reaching out for the blanket. The smell was simply intoxicating. Freshly cut lumber, rich coffee beans, and perhaps a touch of freedom. Tony's smell was fun, but this, Bruce knew it must be Steve's. Dependable, comforting, timeless. Made him feel safe, despite everything that was going on. Clint chuckled.

"Guess that's a yes then." He handed him the blankets and Bruce wrapped it tightly around himself.

"I'm going to get someone to shut the door or whatever," he said, waving at the mouth of the cave, "Just scream if you need us. Tony should be monitoring your vitals and all that jazz." Clint walked out and Tony was flying around, dousing the air in some sort of chemical and spraying on every available area.

"Want to roll the stone over for him?"

"That's Muscles job. Besides, you're suppose to be in there with him." He said, purposely spraying his face. Clint spit off to the side and bat the air.

"Knock it off! Besides, he wants a few minutes of alone time."

"Why?" Tony asked. "So you're there. Big deal."

"Maybe not to you, but some people care Tony."

"What? It's hot. Well..." Tony looked over Clint slowly and smiled. "Yeah, hot."

"Don't be gross." Clint said, scrunching his face at the thought. "I thought the point of this was to make him feel comfortable. This will make him more comfortable."

"Fine, fine." Tony said, grabbing the rock and beginning to roll it over. "Hey Heat-stuff!" He said, sticking his head in to smile at Bruce for a moment. The chemicals hadn't gotten all the way in the cave, and Tony's and Steve's scent met in a heavy mix, causing Bruce's cock to lurch. He moaned a little and Tony laughed. "That's my boy." He rolled the stone completely in front of the hole and began talking to JARVIS. "Hook me up to Nat and Steve." He said, and a metallic click told him they now could hear. "Start bringing the stuff out. Everything you can get."

Soon Natasha and Steve joined Tony and Clint and they began unpacking everything. They made a list of things Natasha would have to go back for. And soon, they heard Bruce moaning from inside the cave.

"That's your blanket doing that." Tony said teasingly to Steve. He tried not to be jealous. Steve shifted uncomfortably. Natasha coughed. Clint bit his lip and noticed Tony and Steve sporting matching erections. "Do you all need to take a break?"

"I'll take a break anytime you're offering." Tony said, turning and walking away, one hand already drifting up his thigh.

"We should plan it out so the Alphas can rotate." Steve said, watching Tony walk away. "It can be time for his break I suppose."

"The Alphas?" Clint said, annoyed.

"I just think it'll be best if you're always at least in the area." Steve said, an apology in his voice but not his words. This time a little scream came from the cave and Steve bent over a bit. Natasha's whole body tightened.

"Clint, we need you to keep us right." Natasha said, giving him a serious look that had just a trace of pleading underneath. He sighed, Natasha always knew how to get what she wanted out of him. He supposed that was part of the reason they were best friends.

"Why can't I be an Alpha?" Clint muttered, running a hand through his short hair. "But I will have to sleep some. Have you guys been making him food?"

"Agent Romanov said you cooked well." Steve answered motioning to the cooking stove. Clint sighed.

"What did you bring?" He asked and Natasha grabbed one of the bags. She began searching through it.

"Macaroni. I don't see any butter or milk though. Soup. Boxed mash potatoes. Here. Look through it." Natasha said, shoving the bag towards him. "Tony chose all that. You can't blame us."

Clint dug through and saw random boxes claiming "fast and easy" or "only needs butter", but Tony didn't plan for any ingredients that might need to be added, didn't even consider the fact that they didn't have an oven or might need a spatula. He sighed. "A lighter at least?" He asked and Natasha chucked one to him. He clicked on the little camp stove, put on the saucer, and poured in a can of soup. "You all owe me pretty much your lives." He stated matter-of-factly.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This chapter has major warnings for abuse and violence. If you don't want to read that part, you can skip the second section. Stop reading at "I can't believe" and start again at "About two hours" and just know you missed a bad dream. This chapter will make more sense if you know some of Bruce's background, which you can read a sort bio of on the Marvel website if anyone cares. Basically, you should just know that Brian is his father and Rebecca is his mother. The part about the Hulk is not flashback, but simply part of the dream. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for all the support! It really keeps me going!

(Line Break)

Clint waited a few minutes after the scream to knock on the door, holding a bowl of soup. "Bruce?" He asked. There was no noise on the other side. "Hey Bruce, I'm coming in, okay?" Still no answer. Clint looked at Steve and Natasha uncertainly. He knew there was no reason to be scared, the man literally couldn't die, but worry blossomed in the pit of his stomach anyway. It made him feel stupid. "Just roll the stone away then step back Steve." He muttered. Clint walked slowly inside the cave, and starred at the body laying prostrate on the floor. He bent down and looked at him. "Bruce?" He said, and then he chuckled lightly. Somehow, covered in puke and feces and come, the man had managed to fall asleep. He look more peaceful than Clint had ever seen him. "He's just sleeping!" Clint called out, sticking his head out of the cave. Natasha rolled her eyes, as if surprised Clint could ever think anything else.

"Maybe you should shut up then dimwit." She said, pointedly speaking softly. He allowed himself to smile for a moment before walking back out.

(Line Break)

"I can't believe you wanted that monster." Brian snarled, shoving her across the kitchen. Rebecca's back hit against the counter hard and a cracking sound wasn't quite covered by her scream. Even from under the table the scene was in perfect view. "Admit it, you wish you'd never had have him." Brian said, leaning in mere centimeters from her face, Bruce thought the smell of alcohol grew.

"I love him." She said, her voice shaking and soft. Brian grabbed a beer bottle- they always seemed to be the closest thing at hand. He raised it back and rather than a bottle, a green fist came down hard. He realized he hated her. He hated that she hadn't left Brian, that she hadn't run. That she wouldn't just say she regretted ever having him. That she had lied. That she had left him all alone. Screams echoed in his ear and Bruce could feel blood on his hands. He stared down at the body, now lifeless and covered in blood. He held her like she always used to do for him, but he was still the one sobbing.

(Line Break)

About two hours into Bruce's sleeping he began moving around a bit, his eyes darting back and forth under his eyelids. Clint tried to ignore it, even when tears came from Bruce's eyes, drops big and fast. He didn't know when Bruce would be able to sleep again. But soon the man was shaking and panting. His muscles began bulging and his skin grew darker. Clint jumped up and out of the hole. "Tony! Your turn." He screamed, and the man jumped up. It had long since turned dark and Steve had been sleeping, but the he got up anyway and pushed the rock over the hole.

Hulk was just finishing forming as Tony walked in. "Hey buddy." He said, smiling. Hulk looked disoriented for a moment, a weird look on his plain face. Then Hulk picked him up and threw him against the ground. He grabbed the lamp and chucked it against the wall, causing them to fall into semi-darkness as Tony's arc-reactor was the only light left. He grabbed the blanket and ripped it to shreds, and stomped on the bowl. Then, seeing no left over options, he grabbed Tony and threw him again.

"Woah buddy, woah." Tony said, sliding to the ground after hitting the wall. "What's wrong?"

"Hulk angry!" He said, fist smashing against the wall and causing part of it to crumble.

"Why is Hulk angry?" He asked patiently. Hulk stood for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Hulk angry!" He said pointedly and smashed the newly made rubble on the ground.

"Is it because of Bruce?"

"Little Bruce is puny man!" He said, turning and smashing both fists against the wall.

"Hey Hulk, just relax." Tony said, standing up slowly. "Everything will be fine. It's already been two days, it'll be over soon."

"Never over!" Hulk screamed, grabbing Tony and chucking him at the wall. Tony groaned.

"Hulk, what did I say about not being able to help you if I'm dead? What's never over?" Tony asked, shushing JARVIS as he tried to tell him his vitals.

"Tin protects Tin Man."

"But you're really strong remember? No matter what is going on with Bruce, Hulk is strong." For some reason Tony found it easier to reassure Hulk then he ever had anyone else. He wondered if it was because with Hulk there were no tricks. What you saw is what you got mainly. With everyone else things were a bit more complicated. Besides, he never had to worry about him crying or anything stupid like that.

"Hulk want to smash." Hulk said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Then go ahead buddy. Let off some steam. Just not on me. That wall over there, it's a great place to start." Tony said, pointing towards the corner away from the door. He couldn't see any problem with widening the cave a bit.

(Line Break)

Tony watched Hulk "let off steam" for quite awhile. After what he judged to be an hour or so that he spent playing on his StarkPhone he called out, "Hey Buddy, can you even break a sweat?" Hulk just grunted. "You know, Bruce should probably come back soon." Hulk turned and looked at him.

"You get me little Bruce?" He asked, panting a little.

"I'm working on it buddy. Promise. When you say Bruce is your Omega, are you two bonded or..." Tony trailed off and Hulk butted in.

"My omega."

"Yeah, I got that. Do you think you could bring him back again? I think you're pretty much done smashing here." Tony said, and Hulk narrowed his eyes.

"You're Alpha. Not by my Omega. Not again."

"What if I went and got Clint?" He asked, and Hulk gave a little snarl. Hulk and Clint never saw quite eye to eye, though no one was really sure why. "Oh come on Hulk. He's an Omega. And he's been helping Bruce when he hasn't felt good. You remember that, don't you?"

"Hulk don't care."

"Hey green, I thought this was your Omega we were talking about." Tony said, crossing his arms. "If you're his Alpha you should want him to get help when he's sick."

"I help my Omega."

"You do. You help him all the time. But right now it's Clint's turn."

"Fine. Hulk don't like puny Bruce man anyway!" Hulk said childishly, grabbing a chunk of wall that had already ripped off and smashing it to bits.

"I thought you were getting Bruce for me Hulk." Tony said, giving him a pointed stare.

"When ugly bird comes." Hulk said, refusing to turn to meet his gaze.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I have a sort of significant time skip in this chapter and I apologize for that in advance, but the part of the story that involves Bruce being in heat is taking much longer than I expected it to, and there isn't a lot more to happen with that. It'd basically be a lot of repetition of Bruce being sick and Clint being a caregiver and Tony making snarky comments. Don't worry, this fic still has a long way to go, but now we're sort of getting into section two. That should be exciting right? The beginning of this chapter sort of has a stream-of-consciousness feel with all of Bruce's thoughts. If some of the narration seems confusing its probably Bruce's inner thoughts. Sorry but I don't have a beta so it's hard to tell if some of this stuff makes sense or not. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for all the support! And to REBD: The relationship between Hulk and Banner has always intrigued me in the comics, so I think I'm going to end up delving into it a lot in this fic. I'll definitely take that thought into consideration, though I'd say I think there's a strong possibility of Bruce being more to Hulk than just a voice in his head. Anyone have any takes on this?

(Line Break)

Clint walked in. Hulk narrowed his eyes at him, but his muscles slowly began receding, his skin turning pale. Bruce fell to the ground. He moaned a little, seeming to feel the hit, then looked around. He didn't remember where he was. It was dark and muggy, and the last thing he remembered was a consuming green rage and turning something to rubble. He must've hurt someone. Must've done something wrong. It was a cage. It was another cage.

Clint could hear, rather than see Bruce starting to hyperventilate. "Hey, just relax. I'm going to get another lamp, okay? Deep breaths." Bruce remembered that now. Deep breaths. The sound of footsteps receding into the distance and a voice he half-recongnized. His mind flashed back, trying to gather the memories he had missed. Smashing tony against the wall, surrounding by a green frame. A green tinted light shattering and going out. A greenish wall slowly receding into rubble. He had hurt someone. Broke something. He tried to take deeper breathes, think logically. He could feel tears at the corner of his eyes. Who would keep him in a place without lights? Ross tested on him, lights never left him. Someone else then. That voice, it was.. Was Clint. SHIELD. SHIELD would only get involved if he did something bad. He was always doing something bad. He tried to take a deep breath in, let it out slowly.

Clint walked back inside, carrying a flashlight. "Sorry. The idiots only brought one lamp but I found this." He shone it over on Banner, naked, kneels clasped to his body, tears in the corners of his eyes, breathing rhythmically but shakily. "Hey, what's wrong? It's okay Bruce. Everything's fine." Clint sighed and ran a hand through his hair before kneeling down in front of the other man.

"Where am I?" Bruce whispered. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"No, no, you didn't hurt anyone." Clint said, setting the flashlight on the ground, the light pointed towards the roof. "No, you're in heat and we took you here, remember?" As soon as Clint said it memories flooded Bruce, much more concrete than the Hulk ones. He was finally able to get a truly deep breath, and his headache subsided slightly.

"Okay. Yes. And I fell asleep, which makes the whole not remembering thing worse. I had a bad dream. That can set him off sometimes. Normally I take sleep meds, they help." He rubbed his temples and was appalled to notice there were still tears in his eyes. He wiped them away quickly. "Sorry. It's just a little confusing sometimes, only remembering bits and pieces of time. Especially when Hulk has such a bad track record." Clint didn't know what to say. He hadn't really thought about how that affected Bruce.

"It's all good. If you wait I'll come back in just a minute with soup."

"Sounds great." Bruce said, able to give a small smile.

(Line Break)

Clint had been right about one thing. That had been the only real sleep Bruce got all week. Still, they did the best for him they could. Clint fed him and brought him in a mattress (actually, multiple mattresses). He talked to him when things got bad and got one of the Alphas when Hulk was coming. He even washed him off when he puked on himself and helped him use the bathroom when he felt good enough to get up for it. Eventually SHIELD had to be told the truth, but Tony convinced Fury to save all arguments till after everything blew over, in exchange for having a couple of his guards mulling about, and Natasha going on a mission. Tony, Thor, and Steve took turns being in the area, so there would always be someone strong enough to roll the stone over, or even scuffle with Hulk if need be. Clint though, he even sleep in the cave with Bruce. There wasn't much other option really, he never wanted to leave him alone with the Alphas, and there was no telling if the SHIELD agents would actually be any help. So, when six days later Bruce finished a bowl of macaroni and cheese and casually said, "You know, I think it might be over." Clint was next to ecstatic.

"Really?"

"Well we probably should give it an hour or two, just to be sure. But I feel a lot better now, in more ways than one. Do you think you could get me some clothes?" Bruce asked, a small, tired smile gracing his face as he scarfed down food.

"Bruce thinks he's out of heat!" Clint announced, letting relief seep into his voice as he stepped out of the cave and searched through the bags for clothes. The two SHIELD guards started quickly talking into their mouth pieces and Tony rolled his eyes at him.

"You could've been nice and let him take a real shower before you told Fury." Tony commented, crossing his arms with a smirk. Steve tossed Clint a pair of pants and a shirt.

"They might be slightly big, but I did not feel comfortable going through his dresser. There's a belt for the pants."

"He can have my shirt if its any better. In fact, I'd happily strip right here for him." Tony said, smiling. He took a few steps towards the cave and screamed in, "You here that Bruce? I figured since you need some clothes and all, you might want a free strip tease!"

"No thanks!" Came back Bruce's hasty, echoing reply.

"He's good." Tony said, walking back over and beginning to grab bags. "Time to take him home."

"Actually sir," One of the SHIELD agents said, stepping towards him. "We have instructions to take you all to SHIELD headquarters as soon as Bruce is sure to be safe."

"Time to hang onto your asses boys." Tony muttered, hitching a bag up further onto his shoulder.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Wow, fifteen chapters in! That's quite impressive I think, even with short chapters. Also, my apologies, reading this chapter over again not a lot happens in it, but I promise more action soon. It was simply a good place to end the chapter and plus I'm already tired (I know going to bed before 11 on a Friday night is a no-no but oh well.) On the topic of more action soon, I'd like to be able to promise you a chapter tomorrow but we'll have to see because for once I actually have plans. A lot even! (A car wash fundraiser, a trip to like three different comic book stores with a friend, and watching my school's play, on top of it being my mother's birthday, if anyone's wondering.) So if I skip tomorrow I apologize in advance and I'll write again on Sunday. Reminder that I don't have a beta (or an alpha or omega) (I'm sorry eventually I'll stop putting bad puns in the Author's Notes) so if there's any mistakes I'm sorry. I'd like to commend the people because there's like more readers on here in a day than on AO3 total. I'm not sure we're you're all coming from but hello! I finally half fixed the format of the first ten chapters. (By half fix I mean writing line break since my computer made line breaks. Before now there was nothing at all to show when the scene changed, because when I typed it up everything looked fine but apparently it didn't show on the actual document. I hope writing (Line Break) is at least better than nothing.) Anyway, thanks for reading. Reviews keep me going! Hope you like the story so far.

(Line Break)

Bruce was quite certain that he had never been more embarrassed in his whole life. He wished for once Steve would stop being such a perfect all American man and break into his room to get clothes. His shortness was accented by the jeans dragging on the ground. The only thing the shirt (that was actually stretched in certain locations from Steve's muscles) was able to accent was the little bit of pudge he was always annoyed he couldn't get to leave his waist. Mostly, he was swimming in it. Besides that, Steve hadn't thought to get underwear or shoes, and Bruce didn't get to shower, or eat food cooked on anything other than a cooking stove, or sleep, or shave, or even get a moment truly alone to collect himself. He knew he looked a complete mess, and he realized that it could be nothing in comparison to how he had looked the rest of the week. It was true that the rest of the avengers had seen him naked before, Hulk made sure of that, but that wasn't quite the same thing as seeing him moaning for sex, or so sick that he couldn't even keep from shitting on himself. And Clint, the man had literally wiped after him, had sponge bathed him, fed him, and cleaned it all up when he puked the food out an hour later. As he looked slowly over himself in the cave, felt the stubble that was more of a beard, he wasn't sure he could go outside and face them. That was, until Tong banged on the door and scream,

"Come on sunshine! You're not getting any prettier."

"You're the one that has to move the stone!" Bruce called back. It was suppose to come out sarcastically, but it just sounded tired. Slowly, light drifted in from the growing hole in front of him. He glanced over Tony, Steve, Clint, and Thor, who were all present now so they could go to SHIELD together. He blinked away all the bad thoughts he had had about them before, particularly Tony from the smell he left in the cave, and Steve from the blanket, which he had foolishly refused to get rid of even when Clint swore there would never be any smell on it but puke and the small pieces kept ripping and could barely be clumped together. He realized he was being stared at as well, and wanted to dispel the awkwardness as soon as possible.

"Thanks Steve. And uh, sorry about your blanket, I think it's too far gone. I can get you a new one."

"Don't worry about it." He said. "How do you feel?"

"Better." Bruce said honestly, but Tony butted in.

"Steve, don't ask stupid questions. Bruce don't lie. When we get there just say you'll kill the neighborhood if you don't get a shower, a shave, and sleep. If you think Hulk might show up there's no way Patches can make you deal with all his shit now. I wish I had that kind of excuse."

"Whatever." Bruce answered softly, most of his "better-ness" slowly fading. He hated when Tony talked about Hulk so flippantly like that.

"Come on. Time to go face Director Bastard then." Tony sauntered towards his plane.

"Will you be okay getting in that?" Clint asked, and Bruce shrugged.

"I can make it. Hey uh, thank-"

"Nope. We're not doing that. Shut up now." Clint said stiffly, getting quickly in the plane and choosing to sit between Tony and the wall rather than by Bruce, which truly proved how little he wanted to talk to the man. Bruce sighed and sat in the closest seat to the door. He closed his eyes and began taking deep breathes.

"JARVIS we need a really smooth take off, got it?" Tony called out to the empty front seat.

"That's assumed sir." The voice chimed in. Sometimes it was truly alarming how omnipresent he really was when it came to Tony's technology.

"No." Bruce said clearly, shaking his head a bit. He hadn't known this was the way the things would be going down, or he never would've gotten on the aircraft

"What do you mean no Brucie-kins?" Tony said in mock dismay.

"There's no way I'm riding on a plane flown by a machine."

"Oh come on Green, you don't really think any one person flies the SHIELD headquarters do you?"

"Not helping." Bruce said through gritted teeth. He slowly pushed himself up. "I'm getting on the guard ship."

"Seriously? He's a better pilot than any real person could be."

"I don't care." Bruce said, groping wildly for the door before being able to get it open.

"You can't just go with a bunch of SHIELD agents." Tony pointed out, crossing his arms. Steve stood up as well.

"I'll go with you Bruce. If that might help things."

Bruce looked at him gratefully. "If you're sure."

"Flag you too? I could fly it. Or call in a pilot."

"We don't have time to wait for that." Steve said, holding the door for Bruce. "And I don't want to be on here if you're flying."

The other pilot of the SHIELD's plane looked more than a bit surprised when Steve walked over and knocked on the door, but Bruce leaned against the side as Steve explained the situation, and a moment later the door was opened for them.

"Only have one seat." The pilot grunted.

"That's fine. It'll be enough." Steve said, helping Bruce in. Bruce lurched into the seat and the other two agents stared at him. He wondered how many people exactly had seen him naked in the course of the last week. Steve helped him with his seat belt then sat down next to him, with no other option but being very close. Bruce was appalled to notice Steve was sporting the beginnings of a mild erection. He groaned and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his forehead on them. "Sorry." Steve said awkwardly. "You uh, still smell a little bit."

"Like puke?" Bruce questioned.

"That too." One of the agents piped up and Steve shot them both a look that could silence guns.

"You smell fine Bruce. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Fury will understand anything haggardly in your appearance, seeing as he is the main being that has caused it." But for the next hour he had nothing to do but worry.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: This chapter is kind of short, and I think trigger free. As always, I beg for reviews.

(Line Break)

Steve helped Bruce out of the plane to where Clint, Tony, Thor, and Fury were waiting for them silently, staring.

"Are you capable of talking to me without Hulk showing up?" Fury asked, a seething anger barely held back from his flat voice.

Bruce contemplated for a moment. The technical answer was yes, but he was tired and dirty and far from in the mood to be chewed out by Fury.

"I don't think he'll do much talking. Tony pointed out.

"Then he can fucking listen."

"With all due respect sir," Steve piped up despite the glare he was getting from Fury, "He would probably listen better after he gets a little sleep. He's hasn't really slept much, he's been really sick."

"Fine. As soon as you're up I expect you here. Agent Gleason please take Bruce to a room with an attached shower. Make sure it's stocked, and get him some real clothes." Fury said wrinkling his nose and waving them away. Bruce looked at Steve gratefully, and followed the Agent, collapsing onto the bed as soon as he reached it.

Fury led the other Avengers into a conference room. Natasha was already sitting in one of the chairs, in her complete battle gear and still covered with a glaze of sweat. Clint sat next to her and there eyes met for a moment. They didn't smile, but they both knew they were relieved to see the other alive. After every mission they made it a point to check in with each other, even if it was just a second of eye contact. But it didn't last long. Everyone else fell into seats around them, and Fury took the opportunity to slam his fist against the table.

"You fucking idiots!" He screamed on the top of his lungs. Everyone jumped but Tony. He knew the outburst would come. It wasn't his first time being screamed at by Fury.

"Actually, we didn't do nearly enough fucking this week. That was part of the problem."

"Tony don't make me rip off your fucking balls." Fury growled. "You I'm especially mad at."

"Why?"

"How many people's heats do you track exactly?"

"Actually none." He said, and everyone looked at him in disbelief. "Oh please, think about it. Heat sucks. Your cock says one and done, but your hormones and knot says stay and cuddle. If I find someone in heat I don't pass up the opportunity, but I certainly don't go searching it out."

"Nevertheless, you should be making sure he is taking his suppressants." Fury said, trying to downplay his mistake.

"Woah, hey, most the time you guys are warning me not to do this kind of stuff. I only help people with their sexual problems with expressed consent. I'm still working on getting that from Brucie Bear."

"From now on I expect you to make sure he takes his suppressants everyday. If he does not he will be treated as the high security prisoner he is and that will be on your head." Fury said calmly. Now it was Tony's turn to be angry.

"Are you threatening me with imprisoning someone else?"

"I am simply warning you of the facts. I will tell Bruce the same thing. If you care for him in the slightest you'd make sure this is not repeated. You could see just how uncomfortable he was. Next matter. You ignored a direct order. I told you to leave if Bruce came. Instead you told Hulk to turn into Bruce. Then you tried to talk to Bruce. And then you kidnapped Bruce. Are you seeing a problem here?"

"This is hardly the first time I ignored a direct order and we both know it won't be my last."

"And you," Fury said, looking at Thor. "You lied to me. To my face. I don't know what that means on your fucking planet but here it's fucking betrayal. How am I ever suppose to trust you again? I can't. Natasha you can't just expect to get a week off work to lie on the forest edge. Steve, you helped everyone get together. You led a whole group of people to disobeying me. You are proving that you're going to use your leadership position wrongly. Plus you still have a fucking erection. And Clint... Is that puke on your shirt?" He asked, pointing as he stood back up. "You put Bruce in danger. You put our guards in danger. You put yourself in danger for another member of this team to simply be more comfortable. If I wasn't so angry I may actually be impressed."

"I know. I'm impressive." Tony said as he leaned back in his chair, put his arms behind his head, and put his legs on the table.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I'm sort of proud that this is possibly the longest chapter I've written, even though I had an AP test today and I have more later this week. This either means 1) I work better under pressure, 2) I was trying to procrastinate my studying, or 3) I love you guys. I think it was a combination of the three. If you love me too please review! I'll need a little encouragement if I'm going to keep up with daily updates with such a stressful week. (This chapter was a nice break from studying though. I really did like writing it.) Anyway I'll shut up now. Thanks for reading and please review!

(Line Break)

After that Fury got them out of the room fairly quickly. He didn't mention the threat he had made of sending Thor out of the galaxy, didn't even mention the fact that Clint had been unable to take on any missions over the last week. Tony thought he was secretly pleased, and said as much.

"Any other opinions? Tony, I think you should definitely have JARVIS track his suppressants. But try not to make him uncomfortable. Just have him get a daily reminder or something." Steve said, trying to direct the discussion to something useful.

"Can we skip the debriefing shit? I have stale chips and scotch calling my name." Tony groaned.

"And I really could use a shower." Clint pointed out.

"I wasn't here for most of this." Natasha said, quickly breaking off from the group and walking down a different hallway.

"I am willing to discuss the events Captain Steven," Thor said, "But with only the two of us it might not be a very in-depth conversation."

"Whatever." Steve said, rubbing his palms into his eyes. He was starting to understand why this century's teenagers used the word so much.

(Line Break)

Mercifully, Bruce slept deeply for hours. He wasn't disturbed by any dreams, he didn't wake up when it turned light outside, didn't even get hungry or need to use the bathroom, but instead enjoyed a full fourteen hours of relief. When he woke up he found clothes and food at the foot of the bed. Seeing as how everything was long since cold he opted to grab the clothes and take a shower before eating. He slipped under the warm water and stood still for a few minutes, basking in the feeling with closed eyes. But he knew he couldn't stay there forever, so eventually he reluctantly washed his hair and body, taking a few tries to make sure he was actually clean. It took a few tries to convince himself to turn off the water too.

Then he got out and shaved purposely slowly. He had tried to ignore it up till now, but he was starting to think about the fact that soon Fury and himself were going to be having a big talk. Or, more likely, he was going to sit in a chair and take deep breaths while Fury screamed it him. He went over the same pink patch of skin over and over again, trying to take his time, trying to think.

When it came right down to it he figured he deserved it. He was the one who had fallen behind on his suppressants. Who couldn't even remember to take a pill a day, especially when it was something as important as this. It was true that he didn't know everything that happened, but he knew he had put people in danger, possibly hurt someone, definitely caused monetary damage. He had no option but to sit still and listen up. Whatever Fury was going to say, no matter what he screamed, Bruce figured he deserved it. They had made a deal. If he was to stay in New York, he couldn't get into any trouble. If the people decided to rally against him, to call him a monster and say they wanted him locked up, well Fury said it might be possible for them to let him slip away to some desert somewhere. But that was the best he was going to get, and only if he was lucky. He wondered for a moment if Fury was going to ask him to leave now. It made sense; he had proved he couldn't be trusted. If they hadn't rushed him to the Hulk room quick enough, he could've done some serious damage. Really, even Bruce was starting to question if he should stay.

But his thoughts were cut off by a knock on the door to his room. He rushed over to answer it before realizing he was only in a towel.

"One minute!" He called out. Now that he had an option of keeping at least a shred of dignity he was certainly going to take it. He quickly started pulling on his clothes and shook his head at the fact that another person had conveniently forgotten underwear. He wondered jokingly if it was all some elaborate plot to make sure he stayed constantly humiliated.

"I don't really need to come in sir." The agent outside the door said. "I'm just here to tell you that Fury is aware you're awake and expects you in the conference room as soon as possible."

"Right, of course." Bruce said, grabbing a piece of toast and shoving it in his mouth. "Tell him I'll be right there." He attempted to say, but it came out as a jumble of meaningless sounds around the toast.

"Excuse me sir?" The agent called back and Bruce screamed out something that was suppose to be 'never mind' and opened the door, throwing the confused looking Agent a little wave as he walked away, toast still in his mouth.

(Line Break)

Bruce found himself walking more and more slowly as he got closer to the conference room. It was an awfully big room for only two people. Bruce figured it probably had soundproofing though, so that could easily be the reason. He finished the toast before pushing open the door.

"About fucking time." Fury said, anger welling up in his voice as he looked over the man. Bruce shrank back a little bit, but closed the door behind him. He suddenly wished he would've asked one of the Avengers to stay with him, but he doubted Fury would've allowed it anyway. "Why don't you sit down?" Fury asked, feigning politeness. Bruce carefully pulled out a plush leather rolling chair, the head on the opposite side of the long table, so Fury could stare him down like he always did.

"You know Bruce, I like you. I really do. You're very smart, and even Hulk can be useful when used right. But lately you've been a fucking idiot." The last few words changed from the fake friendly tone to a condescending sneer, which Bruce thought he preferred. At least it was real. "By the way, if at any time during this little interview you think you might just lose control and go all green, you tell me this time so I can prepare things before you kill someone." Fury said, and Bruce thought it was meant to be a low blow. He didn't take the bait though, simply nodded and motioned for him to continue. Bruce had long since gotten past people reminded him he killed, if anything, it made him feel good that Fury knew his true danger, didn't try to downplay it. There was a good reason certain people walked on eggshells around him- it kept them safe. "Lets go over what's happened, shall we? You did not take medication, when you knew withdrawal could lead to you killing fuck knows how many people. You had absolutely no plan for what to do when this occurred. You got an impulsive, probably drunk Alpha to take care of you while you were in heat. You then disrupted an important rebuild of a very major part of the United States government so you could have your little sex party. You forced hundreds of workers to take sudden breaks from work for a full eight days that will cost fucktons in set backs. You forced us to fly this carrier before it was completely prepared. You required us to have workers babysit you, who also need to be paid. Then you still couldn't control yourself. You took our best prison cell so that we could hold no other criminal in it, then proceeded to break it as well, so that it will have to be completely replaced, and also put the lives of all those guards and Director Hill in danger."

"I thought that was mine." Bruce whispered, and he took a deep slow breath in and out, trying to calm himself, to calm the Hulk. Fury blew it off like he didn't even hear him.

"You totally upset the wildlife of one of the few islands left that is not inhabited by humans. You wrecked a cave that had never seen human hands. You took some of our best agents away from us on top of the babysitters we were already paying for. You forced us to put soldiers in places where there should've been assassins or super soldiers, and to go for kills when it may have been better to capture because our best holding cell is sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Our first estimate of costs is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a number of injuries, minimum. So I guess the first question I'm asking is, who am I billing?" But Bruce was hardly listening any more. His mind was still stuck on something said almost a paragraph before.

"At the very least," He said softly, "I deserve my own prison cell."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: This chapter is trigger free. Sorry if the chapter seems rushed, I was busy tonight, then it was getting late and I was taking a shower and trying to decide what to watch on Netflix when I suddenly remembered this. You should feel honored to be more important than Netflix. Thanks for reading, please review!

(Line Break)

Fury stopped for a moment, the groove he had been getting into suddenly thrown off by the unexpected response. He looked Bruce over slowly, and Bruce tried to rectify what he had said.

"I mean, obviously I have no claim over any of SHIELDs equipment. But I just think it's best that it's left open for me, at least until I leave. If I leave. It's just better if I have a place to go. If that's okay." For a moment, Bruce marveled over how stupid he was capable of sounding. He was suppose to be a freaking genius after all. He wished he spoke as well as Tony.

"Fine." Fury said, quickly recuperating. "I'll give you that, and making sure the rebuilding effort includes more holding cells for other villains. The point still stands that it'll have to be remade, then you can use it whenever you wish."

"I uh, I'll talk to Tony." He said, swallowing hard and rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, trying to calm the building panic in him. He didn't know how he could ask his friend for a couple hundred thousand dollar loan that there was obviously no way he could ever pay back. It wasn't that Tony wouldn't give it to him, it was just that, well he liked to believe he could provide for himself. He knew it wasn't true, that even when he tried to slip rent into Tony's account it never really added up to what he cost, but at least they didn't acknowledge it. Now he'd have to bring the issue out into the open.

"Good. But please give the money yourself. He'll make a big fuss out of it. Next thing. If this happens again, and you expect us to deal with it, I will let SHIELD have there way with you. I don't think you're a monster Bruce. I think you're useful even, that we need you here. But you're making it awfully hard to argue when you seem irresponsible enough to forget something as important as this. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Bruce knew there was no sense in doing anything other than agreeing.

"When's the last time you've been in heat, besides this week?"

"I had one heat after Hulk first came out; I've taken suppressants since then."

"Jog my memory, how many years has it been?"

"Over fifteen." Bruce answered, surprised when he said it out loud. He still looked back at the time before Hulk with a degree of wistfulness, and it was insane to think that he hasn't been alone in his head for over fifteen years. It only made the presence of Hulk, the constant throbbing in the back of his skull, a bit more noticeable.

"That has negative health effects, doesn't it?"

"None I can't handle." Bruce said honestly. He'd thought this all through before. It was impossible to tell if certain things bothering him were caused by Hulk or the pills, but he had long since learned to deal with any side effects. Most were suppose to be mild anyway. The risk of disease, infertility, being unable to bond correctly, the types of big things that really stopped people from overdosing on suppressants he figured he could deal with when he got to them.

"That's what I like to hear. As long as you understand this can never happen again, and Tony will be billed you're free to go." Fury said, waving him away.

"Uh, one question." Bruce asked as he stood up slowly.

"Shoot." Fury said, pulling paperwork out of a black paper for his next conference.

"Are you serious about giving me the Hulk room? Can I use it anytime I want?" Bruce asked, trying to keep his face flat rather than hopeful.

"Anytime you think you need it. You can't live in it or anything. And you have to be able to get there yourself, where ever it is. And understand you actually Hulking out in it comes at a major cost."

"But it's a lot safer." Bruce asked Fury, moving to the door of the conference rooms.

"It's lot safer." Fury repeated.

(Line Break)

Bruce had to convince one of the Agents to give him a cellphone to call Tony. Of course, the man himself didn't answer, but JARVIS did, and the AI recognized his voice. Bruce was surprised to learn that he had authorization to use a plane without Tony's permission. The idea made him uncomfortable though, and he wondered if it was a mistake in the programming. He opted instead to have JARVIS tell Tony to come and pick him up as soon as possible. He had to ask him for money anyway. If he had to humiliate himself, he might as well do it in person.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Wow it's before eight thirty and I'm already posting this! Uhm I don't have much to say for this chapter actually. That last paragraph is probably about as fluffy as I get by the way. Thanks for reading! Review if you like!

(Last Line)

Bruce had to wait an hour and a half for Tony to show up. Honestly, he shouldn't have been surprised. Tony was always late, and there was no reason this would be any different. He was happy to see, however, that Tony brought a pilot with him. It proved he payed Bruce at least some attention.

"You ready green?" Tony asked, and Bruce cringed a little. More of the Hulk-based nicknames.

"Been ready for almost two hours." He said, but he said it jokingly. He could hardly complain when Tony was taking a break in his day to pay a lot of money to pick him up on a private jet. A big one too, where he could sit without looking out the windows. At least if Bruce had to have a horribly embarassing conversation, he wouldn't have to be totally scared for his life during it.

"Then get in here. And don't puke in my plane." He said, motioning him in. Bruce climbed inside and took a deep breath as he buckled in to one of the aisle seats. "Finally riding in style." Tony grinned, sitting across from him. "Go ahead and take off." Tony screamed towards the cockpit. Bruce braced himself, closing his eyes and taking deep, calming breaths, but the lift off was surprisingly smooth, and after a pause he was able to open his eyes again and breathed a little easier. "See? Not bad at all." Tony said teasingly.

"I wouldn't go that far." Bruce muttered. His headache was building and he could feel Hulk's presence in the back of his mind. It bothered him slightly, but he practically had a degree in ignoring those types of things by now. "I have to ask you something." Bruce said, figuring it was best to get it over with.

"I can't give any big life advice Banner." He said, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. Then after a pause, "You and Steve both are flags. I bet the internet has pretty great ship names for that." Bruce elected to ignore the last line and plow forward.

"I need to borrow a couple hundred thousand dollars."

"Not a problem." Tony said dismissively. "Tell Pepper exactly how much you need and she'll write you a check. I'll add your name soon so you can take money out without going through anyone. Actually, I probably won't. Just tell Pepper to do that. Tell her to add all the Avengers." Bruce had found himself in the middle of sending a lot of messages back and forth between Tony and Pepper, but less and less recently. The break-up had been less than civil, but not entirely unexpected, so they were beginning to go back to being friend. Every once in awhile Tony said something remarkably stupid though that would set back their progress, which Bruce suspected must have happened recently. He mused about what stupid thing Tony said for a moment, but then decided to address the problem more at hand.

"I don't want to just have access to all your money Tony."

"Well it's not going to be all my money." He said with a shrug. "I have plenty of different accounts. But it should be more than enough, and if it's not I'll add more."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh. Well I know you won't steal it all, if that's what you're referring to, and even if you do I have like an infinite amount more."

"I meant I'm not a fucking charity." Bruce snapped, and he could feel his heart beat faster, his headache raise, Hulk trying to engage him in a mental battle. He took a deep, shaky breath and Tony laughed.

"You're kind of cute when you do that whole control your anger thing, you know that? We should go out on the town sometime, I can find you plenty of girls looking for the awkward scientist type. I'm a good Iron Man, but I'm an even better wingman." Bruce bit his tongue to keep from pointing out a few major flaws in the plan.

"You're missing the point Tony. I don't want you to get me things. Money, or sex partners, or anything. I mean, I want a loan, but I just want it to be a loan. That's all."

"What's the money for?" Tony asked curiously.

"SHIELD wants me to pay for all the damages."

"What? What kind of shit is that?"

"Fair shit really." Bruce said. By now he was calm about it. "I caused a lot of damage. They have to pay for it somehow."

"Fine, if you refuse to take a stand for yourself, I'll write them a blank check so we don't have to deal with haggling over price. And then you're going to continue to use as much of my money as you want and you're not going to say a word about it."

"Excuse me?" Bruce asked, eyebrows raised.

Listen, nerdier version of me, I don't do all this in depth conversation shit. I don't say we're friends or whatever the fuck you want to hear. Instead I give you money. So use that too big brain of yours and figure out it that means whatever nice fucking thing you want it to mean. Now get ready to land." Tony growled, and even in Bruce's mortal terror, he smiled.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: This chapter gave me a bit of trouble because it's a transition and I suck at transitions plus I had an AP Lit test today so I'm done with writing. That being said I hope you enjoy it anyway. From the last chapter to this one there's a minor time skip, that should be self-evident but I'm just making sure. This is trigger free. Thanks for reading and please review!

(Line Break)

"Come on, she's cute, real nice ass, pretty face, omega church girl if you're looking for more than a fuck. I promise she's great." Natasha said, looking at Steve.

"No."

"You didn't even ask for the downside. Just went straight to no."

"Not interested." Steve said, trying to walk away from her quickly.

"You're not all that busy. And you don't want to be alone forever. Why not?" Natasha asked. Steve reached the end of the hallway and groaned when it ended with a lock door. He took a deep breath and decided that if he could be Captain America he could deal with this.

"Hey Nat can I tell you something?"

"Sure Steve." She said, looking him over quizzically.

"I uh, prefer guys." He said, and now it was his turn to look over her. She waited to see if he would continue, and after a moment he did. "I mean, I sometimes like girls, but not very often. She has to be really special. I mean, not that guys don't but-" He sighed and looked at his feet. "Alpha or Omega, I prefer guys. Though Alphas are generally my type. I've just kept it quiet because Army, you know? I hope uh, it doesn't bother you."

At that Natasha laughed. "Please Steve. I'm quadsexual, Tony is fuck anything with a hole sexual, but I think only tops, Bruce... Well he likes at least Omega females but I'm not really sure, Thor is a god who fucks god's and humans I think of any kind, and Clint is asexual. We don't really care about sexuality here."

"Asexual?" Steve said questioningly. He thought the word sounded vaguely familiar, but wasn't sure what it meant.

"Oh. Oh fuck. It means, someone who doesn't like sex. And that classified information Captain, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Steve answered. He didn't have to be a spy to see the way Natasha tensed. It was obvious he wasn't suppose to know. Natasha turned and walked off, her posture suddenly military.

(Line Break)

Natasha walked into Clint's room and collapsed on his bed. He was sitting at his desk, writing out a report. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her, smiling at a chance of a distraction.

"I fucked up." She muttered.

"What'd you do?" He asked, a cross between amused and nervous.

"I told Steve you were asexual." She answered and Clint took a deep breath, giving himself a minute to think it over.

"What'd he say?"

"He asked what asexual meant."

"Did you tell him?"

"Yeah. Then I told him not to tell anyone and that was the end of it." She sat up and looked over him, trying to find a trace of anger. She was pleasantly surprised not to find any, but he did look apprehensive.

"Well what do you think he thought?"

"He seemed confused, curious... But I mean, nothing bad."

"I don't mind people knowing you know. I just don't like when they're jerks about it."

"So it's okay." She said, and kept from letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. I have no idea how you're a spy though."

"A good spy can sometimes let down her guard." She answered, jumping off the bed. "From now on I'll let you decide when you tell though. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go try to hook Steve up with someone else."

(Line Break)

"JARVIS, let's run a hypothetical, and you're going to give me advice. I want to test some of your programming." Tony screamed up into his empty lab.

"Very well sir." The crisp computer voice answered back.

"Let's say, for sake of the hypothetical, that I get super drunk one night and decide that I like someone I work with. Let's say... Dr. Banner." Tony said, taking what was practically a swig of his scotch.

"It's mid morning sir."

"Ah, but this is a hypothetical JARVIS remember?" Tony said in mock dismay. "What would you suggest?"

"That depends on the reason for infatuation sir."

"Hmm... Watching him in heat, proximity, and general attractiveness level."

"Well I may start by reminding you

that both infatuation and intoxication can affect ones view of attraction. Then I'd say the effects of viewing his heat should wear off soon, and proximity can be rearranged." JARVIS said plainly.

"But this is me we're hypothesizing remember? I'm not that easy to dissuade. I want to be involved in Bruce's sex life now." Tony said.

"May I suggest ignoring it? Or at the most perhaps helping Dr. Banner find a partner with life goals similar to his own." JARVIS said patiently.

"That second ones not horrible. You're missing the option where I fuck his brains out though." Tony said boredly. "Actually why not both?"

"Excuse me sir?"

"I hook people up with him while trying to hook up with him at the same time so I can know what he's into and everything."

"May I suggest against that idea sir?"

"You may, but I won't listen." Tony said distractedly.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: This chapter mentions drugs. Hope you like so far, please review if you do!

(Line Break)

"Pepper I want you to plan a party." Tony said spinning in her chair.

"Why?"

"Because party ginger!" Tony said, his feet scrapping against the floor as he stopped the spinning to look at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. It's your money you're wasting. When do you want it?"

"Tonight." He said casually.

"Tony it's three pm. We can't plan a party for tonight."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"We can't because it takes more than a day to plan a party."

"Peps," Tony said, and now it was his turn to roll his eyes, "I'm not talking a white collar event here. Just a good old fashion party. You only need three things: omega women, beer, and me."

"That is honestly one of the worst things you've ever said, and that's saying something Tony. No party tonight. You have to give me... Let's say two weeks. In two weeks you can have a party."

"Jalapeño..." Tony whined. "I don't want a party in two weeks, I want one now."

"Too bad."

"Fine." Tony said, crossing his arms. "If you won't plan a party, I will. And I'll get all the Avengers to help me."

"Don't you dare."

"Or what? My tower, my money, what's the big deal? You can't stop me."

"Fine. Make a fool of yourself. Just don't expect me to clean up your mess." She said, turning on her heel and beginning to walk out the room.

"What do you thing I pay you for?" Tony screamed out after her.

(Line Break)

"What is this big mission exactly?" Natasha asked looking over Tony skeptically.

"We're planning a party." Tony answered confidently.

"A party?" Steve asked, eyebrows raising. "Like one of your fancy benefits?"

"No no no, not a boring stiff party. Tonight we're going to have a wild rager."

"Right. Well, time for me to go to bed then." Bruce said, standing up quickly.

"Come on Brucie, I'm sure you can stay up all night without a nap. You're not that old. And I have stuff you need to prepare." Tony said, and Bruce snorted.

"I don't do parties Tony."

"Oh come on. That's just because you've never been to one of my parties Bruce-Bear."

"No. No parties Tony. If you really want me to run and do some errands for it I can, but no parties."

"Bruce." Tony whined, and realized that had to be the third time today. "You have to go to the party."

"Tony-" Bruce tried saying, but Tony ignored him.

"Promise me you'll stay out of your room till at least eleven." Tony said and Bruce snorted.

"How's eight?"

"Eleven."

"Nine." Bruce said. "That's what I'm promising. You can't force me to promise anything else." He said, crossing his arms.

"That's arguable, but fine." Tony looked over the rest of them. "This will actually be a fairly easy mission, because I'm paying other people to do everything. Just invite everyone you know, I'll do the same, try not to look so judgmental, and stay out of people's way. And I expect the rest of you to have a good time till at least eleven."

"But Bruce can go to bed at nine?" Clint asked, annoyed.

"Shut up, I'm sure there'll be other pot heads there." Tony said, waving Clint away and jumping up himself. "Bruce, you're with me. I need to get you ready." Tony patted his shoulder and Bruce sighed, resigned to the fact that he'd have to deal with Tony for the rest of the day. Steve looked on with jealousy but wasn't quite sure which of the two men he was jealous of.

"What's a rager?" He asked, trying to distract himself from the anger at both of them for leaving him out.

"It means we're all going to get drunk and get laid!" Tony screamed back as he left the room.

(Line Break)

"The purple one. You definitely have a purple dress shirt that you look smoking hot in."

"I really don't have a purple dress shirt in here Tony! You can look yourself. But what's it matter anyway?" Bruce asked, and sighed as Tony dived into his closet.

"Purple was the best. That's it, I guess you'll have to wear nothing then." Tony said, turning around with a smirk.

"I'll wear the yellow shirt and you'll shut up about it." Bruce countered.

"Fine. But I chose the pants too."

"Why?" Bruce asked, sighing. "You said this wasn't a white collar event." Tony ignored him and grabbed a gray pair of dress pants and threw them at him. "Put these on."

"Why?" Bruce asked, crossing his arms.

"Don't question me, just strip."

"I should take a shower first." Bruce said, grabbing the clothes. He had already taken a shower, but he didn't like the way Tony was looking at him.

"I've seen you naked before Green." Tony pointed out.

"And look how it's making you act." Bruce said. "Wouldn't want to encourage that at all." He shuffled off into the bathroom.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: So all the funny messing around ends at the end at the chapter and more angst again soon. This chapter has minor-ish sexual harassment in the second half, (When we see Steve again) and that will be discussed a lot more in tomorrow's chapter. I'll remind you again tomorrow and tell you what part is trigger free. The first part should still be good to read today. Sorry. I just sort of want to deal with the part of Tony's personality that's honestly a total dick at times, and look at it logically and not shove it under the rug. I think there's times when he crosses the line from funny to inappropriate and it's not addressed enough. Anywho, all that aside, hope you enjoy the chapter, review and tell me what you think!

(Line Break)

"Bruce come on, what's with the buttons?" Tony asked.

"What wrong with my buttons?" Bruce asked, trying to calm his growing annoyance.

"They're all buttoned up."

"That's not true, the top one is unbuttoned."

"Yeah but one says work, two says play." Tony said, reaching out to undo the other button, with soft, searching fingertips. After he did so he stroked over the bit of Bruce's chest he could reach. Bruce forced himself to let out a breath once he realized he was holding it in.

"Tony," He said, dismayed more at his reactions than Tony's actions. It shouldn't have been so unexpected, Tony flirted with everyone, but somehow he still felt... Well he wasn't exactly sure what he felt besides stupid. "I can button my own buttons."

"Oh, I know." Tony said, patting his shoulder in a way that made Bruce feel like he was five. "You're capable of many things Dr. Banner." He said suggestively.

"Right. Well, I'm ready now, so you should probably go check on other things."

"Don't be silly Bruce. You're hardly ready. And this party is really all for you so..."

"What do you mean this party is for me?" Bruce asked uneasily.

"I mean I've seen that you need to relax lately, and you don't have many friends in New York so I'm going to help you out."

"Neither does Thor or Steve." Bruce pointed out quickly.

"They've both been here for longer than you though." Still Tony got a picture of Steve's muscles, combined with his confused innocence and thought it actually wasn't a horrible idea. "But fine. I'll help Steve too then."

"Not Thor?"

"He already has friends." Tony said dismissively. And a girlfriend, which was much more upsetting.

(Line Break)

No matter what the reason for Steve's jealousy, it didn't seem to be fading. But he tried to focus on figuring out what exactly people wore to these "ragers". He asked JARVIS, and the machine pulled up pictures of alcohol and drugs, and teens he was sure were much too young to party. He shut the pictures down and went through his closest about three times. Tony showed up the in the middle of the third time.

"Hey Star how's it going?" He asked, opening the door and waltzing in without pause. He was a little disappointed to find the super solider dressed.

"I do believe knocking is still normal." He answered coolly.

"Yeah but I'm not really normal. You're not wearing that, are you?"

"No."

"Then what are you wearing?"

"I'm not quite sure yet." Steve said. "What do people normally wear to these "ragers"?

"Mind if I take a look?" Tony said, but he didn't wait for Steve's approval. He sauntered over and dug into the dresser. Steve sighed, but he would've let him anyway, and with such a great view of Tony's backside he didn't feel much like giving him a lecture on manners.

"I was going to tell you to just wear briefs but what's with all these boxers solider?" Tony asked without turning to look at him.

"Shut up Tony."

"I'm serious. I saw you during Banner's heat, you have quite the package. When people get such a nice gift they normally want to show it off."

"Knock it off or I'll get Natasha to help me."

"With the package?" Tony asked teasingly.

"Tony!"

"Fine fine!" Tony screamed back. He pulled out a pair of jeans that looked suitably tight. "That and..." He reached around a little more and found a plain white shirt, wondering if he could find an excuse to dump him in the pool. "This." With Bruce it had been the mystery that would be sexy. True, the image of Bruce naked was seared permanently into his mind, but he could still imagine what it was doing under all the clothes. And besides, Bruce could still pretend he was keeping his dignity. Uncomfortable Bruce was only cute up to a point. Steve though, it was just a guns show. With a side of balls and chains, and maybe a bit of cheek.

"Fine." Steve said, grabbing the clothes. "What should I expect?"

"Booze and babes and grinding." Tony said, standing up and turning to look at him.

"Grinding?" Steve asked inquisitively, and Tony smiled, knowing he had him exactly where he wanted him.

"It's when you're dancing," Tony said, walking around behind Steve, "and you go up to someone, and do this." He grabbed Steve's hips and ground his own into them, rutting against his firm behind.

"What the hell Tony?!" Steve said, whipping around to face him.

"I was just showing you grinding." Tony answered. He was able to keep his voice innocent, but he sported a grin and an erection as he said it.

"I could charge you with sexual harassment." Steve said, and he could feel anger boiling in his chest.

"Oh please, do you know how often my lawyers deal with that one? They could do it in their sleep. Don't get your knickers in a twist grandpa."

"That doesn't make it right!" Steve practically screamed. He shook his head, ran a hand through his hair, grabbed the clothes, and walked off. "That doesn't make it right." He whispered.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Second section (Tony meeting Steve) has minor warning for mentions of sexual harassment type scenarios. Hope you like the chapter, it's actually decently long, please review if you do!

(Line Break)

"Bruce come on, let's go meet a couple of the guests." Tony said, looking at the other man impatiently.

"I thought the party didn't start till eight." Bruce said uncomfortably. The closer it got the less he wanted to do this, and he tried sending the billionaire a glance that said as much but Tony just didn't seem to understand.

"Which means people will show up from seven tonight till eight tomorrow morning. Look, I know you're a bit nervous, so you might want to ease into it. Before there's a crowd and the music gets louder and everyone's drunk."

Bruce shuddered a little at the thought. His heart rate was steadily raising, but not dangerous. Yet. He reminded himself to make sure he was checking constantly. "Fine. Let's go."

"By the way, what kind of people am I trying to hook you up with?" Tony said, grabbing the door for him.

"No one." Bruce said. "Not interested."

"Oh come on Brucie. This isn't a relationship we're talking. Let's go full one night stand."

"Still not interested."

"Well, Bets was an Alpha woman," Tony said, not noticing the way Bruce got slightly uncomfortable, and glanced down at his watch when the name was said. "So I'm going to assume Alpha women are okay."

"Tony..." Bruce said, sighing.

"Come on Bruce, look alive, guests are here." Tony said and Bruce forced himself to look up, but couldn't quite manage a smile. His heart rate was getting high and higher. There was a bar across the room, and a couple guests milling about, almost every one with some sort of alcohol in there hand. The DJ was still setting up. Natasha and Clint were in the corner, Natasha scoping out the guests that were already there, and Clint rolling something that didn't look like a cigarette. They both seemed to be drinking heavily. Steve was no where to be found. "Will you be okay if I leave you for a few minutes and go to get Super Solider?" Tony asked, and Bruce nodded, only half paying attention. "Hey anger issues," Tony said, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, "You better be talking to someone when I get back." Tony walked away and Bruce walked over to Clint and Natasha. He was sure Tony was going to tell him they didn't count, but it would be worth a scolding to put this off a little longer.

"Hey..." He said, sliding slowly into one of the metal chairs around the little metal table. Natasha and Clint looked up at him.

"Well you look scared for your life." Natasha commented, giving him an appraising glance.

"I don't like parties. And I'm not completely sure it's safe for me to stay here till nine."

"Any particular reason?" Natasha asked, offering him some fries from her little plastic basket, which he shook his head to.

"Well I've never been a fan of crowds. Or... Maybe not never, but just since there's been a constant risk of killing everyone near me. There's more people to hurt, and they're more unpredictable. Its better when I can know exactly what can happen in my life."

"So you moved in with Tony Stark?" Natasha asked, a touch of humor in her voice.

"Well I'm not sure this is permanent. But I just couldn't go back to Peru, not after they saw a bunch of men with guns come and cart me away. There would be too much fear, and too many questions I didn't have answers to. I'd lose their trust. That's kind of important when you're the difference between their life and death." He said, and though Natasha's face didn't move, he noticed she had stopped eating. He was making her uncomfortable. He didn't want her to feel guilty on his account. "Hey, I know you were just following orders. And this whole thing has been kind of good for me really. Besides, about all this," He said, with a flick of his wrist at the room. He figured distraction might be a better method. "I can't really do party stuff."

"Party stuff?" Natasha asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, you know, drinking, dancing, sex." Bruce said. Clint choked halfway through a swig of beer, and Natasha looked over him again with curiosity.

"Why not?" She asked. He glanced at his watch and saw that his heart rate was falling once again. He was more comfortable talking about his sexual problems with friends than anything with strangers. He was surprised when he thought of them as friends. It had been a long time since he had really considered anyone a friend. In Peru there were people he was friendly with, but it wasn't the same. He didn't have conversations like this with them. For a moment, he wavered, wondered if he wanted friends. If it was good for his little problem. But then he decided this didn't officially make them friends, and it might be best if he was just upfront about everything. His heart rate was raising again.

"Drinking leads to bad decisions which leads to the other guy. Its always best if I'm in full possession of my mental faculties. Dancing raises the heart rate because its exercise, and sex raises the heart rate because... Well you know that." He said dismissively.

"So, have you not had sex since Hulk..." She said, trailing off.

"Not since the accident." He answered. "Can only even masterbate on certain days. Sometimes I can't finish. But uh, don't tell Tony. He'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Understood." Natasha said.

"Sorry." Bruce said, after a few beats of awkward silence. "That was a weird thing to tell you."

"Don't worry." Clint said dismissively. He thought about reminding him that he was right there for his whole heat, but decided to stick to his guns about never mentioning it again. "Natasha's told me much worse."

(Line Break)

"People are here." Tony said to Steve, and actually bothered to knock as he walked in.

"Already? I thought it started at eight." Steve said, glancing at his watch. Tony shrugged.

"They're early then." Tony said and Steve sighed. "You still angry Serum?"

"Yeah actually." Steve said turning a little to stare down at him.

"They go ahead and do the lecture." He said boredly. Steve clenched his jaw, trying not to be angry before he even began speaking.

"That's not how you should flirt Tony. And I know it's really nothing, at least to you, and you're just messing around, but you shouldn't touch people when you flirt. Especially not like that. It's really annoying, and besides that it could really bother someone. It would be one thing if I acted like I liked you or I wanted that but I haven't so you shouldn't do that. Do you understand?" Steve asked, trying to look at him seriously.

"But you don't care."

"But I know that I'm not the only person you do that kind of thing."

"But you don't care." Tony repeated and Steve sighed again.

"No Tony, I sort of expect it from you."

"So if I did it again..." Tony started teasingly.

"Get out." Steve interrupted. Tony made a face and he waved him away. "Out Tony. I'm serious."

(Line Break)

"Bruce baby, I need your help." Tony said, sauntering up to the table he knew. Bruce looked up at him with a gaze that said he did not feel inclined to help him with anything at all. "You'll get out of the party for a little bit." Tony said, eyebrows raised suggestively, and Bruce smiled.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Well Steve is pretty sure I'm some sex crazy bastard," Tony said, "And I want you to go apologize for me and get him to come down here."

"Wonder why he'd think that." Bruce mumbled. "What if he honestly doesn't want to come down here?"

"Be persuasive." Tony said, and Bruce nodded, walking off towards Steve's room.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I think this chapter is trigger free. Thank you guys for getting me over 5000 views! I think that's really freaking awesome! Anyway this is the part where I beg for reviews, so here you go. Beg.

(Line Break)

Steve heard a soft knock on the door, and a patient pause after, so he knew it must not be Tony. He took a deep breath and walked over to open the door slowly. Bruce was waiting on the other side, and tried to smile at him.

"Hey." Steve said lamely.

"Tony sent me up here." Bruce said, always a bit more to the point than Steve.

"Tell him it's fine. I don't think I'm really going to get through to him anyway."

"What did he do?" Bruce asked, half out of curiosity, and half wanting to prolong the time before he had to go back to the party.

"Oh you know, typical Tony stuff. We were talking about grinding, I asked what that was, he decided it would be best to just show me." Steve answered. Bruce contemplated that for a moment.

"I mean, the methods were bad, but you can't really blame him for wanting a piece of that." He said teasingly. He had meant to say something funny, and only after the words came out did he really think about how flirtatious they sounded. He also thought he didn't regret them. Steve was caught completely off guard. He thought over the sentence a few times, staring at Bruce as he did so, before deciding that it was meant in the way it sounded.

"Thanks." He said, searching for words. He didn't think Bruce did any of that. He figured it was some Hulk thing. "Anyway, you know, I got mad. Because you shouldn't touch people like that without their permission."

"Fair enough. I mean, I doubt he listened, but it is something we need to work on with him." Bruce said, then, not wanting an awkward pause like the last one, added, "He wants you to go down there. There's already some people there."

"I thought it didn't start till eight."

"Apparently fashionably late is just a big inside joke."

"What?" Steve asked, his face contorting in confusion.

"Never mind. But yes, it started at eight. People just show up early I guess."

"Oh. I like to be able to prepare myself a bit. I thought it would be at eight." Steve said and took a deep breath. "But we might as well get it over with, right? Could be fun."

"You don't say that with much conviction." Bruce said, a touch of laughter in his voice.

"Well from what I know there will be crowds, which I'm not particularly fond of, drinking, which doesn't affect me, and lewd dancing, which just seems quite inappropriate."

"Seems we see eye to eye on this." Bruce said. "But if we stay up here, he'll come up and we'll have a whole other problem on our hands."

"Agreed." Steve said, and he walked over and opened the door. At the same time a deep, pulsing beat filled the whole house and seem to shake it all the way to the top.

"Oh joy." Bruce muttered. "This should be interesting."

By the time they got down to the main lounge it was already late, people were already drunk, and there was already dirty dancing. Bruce made his way over to a bar stool and asked for water. He tried to ignore the strange look the bartender gave him, and glanced down at his heart rate monitor. Steve stood behind him, unsure of what to do, and declined when the bartender offered him a drink. Tony walked over, a lady on each side of him. One a giggly brunette, probably already more than drunk, and the other a blonde in a wheel chair with critical eyes.

"Look alive boys." Tony said, patting Steve on the shoulder. "Sophia," Tony said, motioning at the Brunette, "We have Steve. An Alpha male with quite the set of muscles and morals. Perfect for a cute little omega like you. Tori," He said, motioning at the blonde, "We have Bruce. An Omega Male who I know, from personal experience, looks quite hot in heat." Tony said teasingly.

"Don't be weird." Bruce scolded, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, you four should be weird. As weird as possible. I'll come check on you in a bit. Mix, mingle, fondle, have fun." Tony said, and he winked at Bruce as he walked away.

"Would you like a drink Sophia?" Steve asked, pulling out a chair by the bar for her.

"I think my name's Sophie." She answered, voice slightly slurred as she collapsed into the offered seat.

"My apologies. I thought I had heard-" Steve started, but Sophie cut him off.

"I think he said Sophia."

"And don't call me Tori. I'm not a five year old in pigtails. Victoria please." Victoria said, crossing her arms. "He doesn't seem to be very good with people at all."

"You can say that again." Bruce responded.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: I'm really sorry, I know this is late. Yesterday I had an off-season nanowrimo write in, so I was working on my actual novel rather than this. But hey, in 27 days I've only missed two so that's not a horrible track record right? I am trying guys. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

(Line Break)

"One of my friends said he's very nice in other ways." Sophie said, with a horribly-preformed wink and a little giggle. She wiggled on her chair and Steve put a hand on her back to steady her. "Already getting handsy aren't you?" She said and it might have actually been sexy if it wasn't slurred almost to incomprehension. "I wouldn't mind a strawberry daiquiri by the way." Steve looked at Bruce, wondering if he should give her any more alcohol.

Bruce leaned into his ear. "Ask for it virgin." He whispered and Steve looked at him incredulously. Bruce couldn't help but laugh. "It just means without alcohol. Give her a few without and then after it's been a couple hours she should be good for alcohol again." Steve nodded and called the bartender over.

"Mind if we get a table?" Victoria asked, looking up at Bruce. He nodded, a bit relieved, and headed over to one. He pulled out a chair, then realized his mistake and moved it over to the side for her.

"Thank you." She said, giving him a tired smile as she rolled in.

"You want anything to drink?" He asked, hoping to be able to force a little life into his voice.

"I could use a shot, but I don't know how much to trust you." She said teasingly. "Normally I stay as far away as possible from people who change other people's drink orders."

"Well I'm a doctor," He said, "I couldn't willing let anyone get alcohol poisoning." He tried not to glance at Tony as he spoke.

"Is that suppose to impress me?" She raised her eyebrows

"Not at all. I'm non-practicing at the moment, don't really do much of anything."

"Yeah, not all that impressive. But worthy of getting me drinks." She joked, and he waved over one of the employees and ordered a vodka and a pop. "You don't drink?" She asked.

"Nope. And, for the sake of honesty, I'm not really interested in having sex with you either." He said it quickly, then he realized what he had said a moment later, and tried to correct it even faster, "That didn't come out right."

"And you assumed I wanted to have sex with you?" Victoria asked. She seemed more amused than offended.

"I had no idea, but I like putting everything out on the table. And I meant I'm not really interested in sex with anyone right now. I'm sure you're a great women."

"Tony wasn't listening to me." Victoria shrugged. "I'm only interested in Alpha females anyway. The pickings seem to be pretty slim so far." She said, but even as she talked her eyes slid over Natasha. Bruce glanced at his watch. Bordering on dangerous. He couldn't take any more of the pounding music and oppressive crowd. "Am I boring you?" Victoria asked a smirk, playing at the corner of her lips.

"No, no sorry. It's, it's complicated. Listen, I don't mean to be so rude. But I think I may be able to make up for the last fifteen minutes." Bruce said.

"Really? And how would you do that?"

"That girl your looking at, Natasha. I know her. I can't promise anything, but I can try to talk to her for you."

"That would certainly make up for the last fifteen minutes." Victoria said, her eyes feasting on Natasha once again. "Is she the sort of women that can handle a bit of flirting?"

"I don't think you could say anything to offend her." He said, though he wasn't completely sure that was what was being asked.

"Then tell her that I said having less movement in my legs just makes me have an all the more well trained mouth and hands." Victoria said, her voice turning smooth as silk. Bruce saw his watch flash red out of the corner of his eye, and decided it was time to get out of there as quickly as possible and calm himself down. Red didn't mean the other guy would show, it just meant he was now not unreasonable to worry about the possibility. He got up and quickly walked to Natasha, saying,

"The blonde women in the wheelchair over there said that less movement in her legs means more in her hands and mouth so you should sleep with her and I really need air so don't question me right now." Somehow he got it all out in one long breath and quickly left the room. He wasn't sure about getting all the way away from the music, not without catching his breath, and he thought he might be able to hear it even from his room. So instead he sat in the hallway and attempted to meditate, taking deep, calming breaths.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Normally I answer reviews before posting the next day's chapter, but it's late and I'm sorry, just know I'll answer them tomorrow, promise. I think this chapter is trigger free. Hope you enjoy!

(Line Break)

Steve couldn't deal with any more of Sophie's giggling and suggestive statements. He looked around for Bruce, trying to see if the other man could tell him the politest way to get out of the situation. Rather than Bruce, he saw Victoria and Natasha making out by a table, with a very disgruntled Clint sitting across from the two, on his phone.

"Hey Sophie, can you give me just a minute?"

"I'll give you a lot more than that later." She said, and Steve couldn't completely decide how to take that. Instead, he walked over to Clint.

"Have you seen Bruce?"

"Yeah, complained about the party, hooked these two up, ran off." Clint said, barely glancing up from his phone.

"Is he okay? I mean, this all is probably a bit more than he's used to."

Clint shrugged. "I figured if he needed help he'd ask, otherwise I'd just be in the way.

"Well I'd still like to check on him." Steve said. "Is there any way you could..." Steve asked, trailing off as he motioned to Sophie.

"You just want giggles off your hands," Clint said, sounding annoyed yet unsurprised. He slipped his phone into his pocket. "You really owe me one."

"I know." Steve said gratefully, watching Clint walk over to the woman. "Thank you so much." He practically ran out of the room, and realized he had no idea where Bruce would be. Luckily he didn't have to look far; as soon as he passed the part of the hall where couples were making out Bruce was practically collapsed against the wall. "Bruce?" Steve asked softly, kneeling down by him. Bruce's eyes snapped open.

"Sorry. I'm fine. Just needed a little break before I leave."

"You need help getting to your room or anything?" Steve asked, trying to remind himself not to sound like the worried mother he was becoming.

"No, I bet you can still hear music. I'm getting all the way out of here. Hotel for the night." Bruce answered. He glanced at his watch, pleased to see he had at least got heart rate out of the red zone. His head still killed, but he could handle a little pain. Steve tried not to look completely off-guard. With ideas like that it was easy to remember Bruce was a genius.

"This might sound weird, but is there any way I can go with you?" Steve asked. Bruce took a deep breath and stood up.

"You have money that's not six floors away?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah I have the.. You know, magic plastic card in my pocket."

"Anyway if could borrow the money for tonight and pay you back tomorrow that would be really awesome. You definitely could come."

"So you're just using me for a little plastic card?" Steve asked softly, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Do you accept then?" Bruce asked.

"As long as you don't mind me going with you."

"Are you quieter than this?" Bruce asked, waving his hand in the general vicinity of the party, and Steve couldn't help but smirk.

"A little." He answered. "Do you need anything? I could go get stuff from your room for you."

"So you can forget my underwear again? Nah, it doesn't matter." Bruce said. He saw Steve's face get bright red and he couldn't help but push it. He knew he shouldn't, that it was stupid and maybe dangerous but he was just so sick of knowing he couldn't do anything- of knowing not only could he not be angry, but that being happy could be just as dangerous. He was sick and tired of only being allowed to be numb. "You know, there's really only two reasons you'd forget underwear. Either you'd rather have me without it, or you don't wear it yourself." Bruce said, allowing his voice to be playful, to be alive. Steve's cheeks got deeper red and Bruce decided to be nice and let him off. "Actually, on my end table there's suppressants and sleeping pills. Those would both be lovely." He said, smirking as Steve ran off.

Steve ran upstairs, trying not to think about not wanting to waste money and fabric during the war, not for things not completely needed. In general, he was trying to think about the war as little as possible. But specifically trying not to think about it never worked either. Steve tried instead to distract himself. A couple making out in an elevator. It had to be a good thing Bruce was remembering his suppressants. Could he still get in Bruce's room? It seemed Bruce had told JARVIS. He saw two pill bottles on a little table by the bed, and figured those would have to be it. He went and grabbed them. Next to the bottles was an open notebook, pen laid across the pages. A lot of things were crossed off on the two pages, some scribbled out. But one phrase was a bit bolder and circled. Steve had to squint a little to read it: "chemical castration".


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Yes I know it's after midnight, in my defense I was dragged to a party for most the evening. I apologize in advance for any mistakes; I'm super tired. Also this chapter includes a homophobic character so you've been warned.

(Line Break)

Steve ran back downstairs with the medicine. "Lets get us a cab." He said to Bruce, walking to the elevator. Bruce just nodded, taking the two bottles quietly. Steve did most of the work, flagging down a cab and helping Bruce into it.

"Where to?" The driver asked and Steve looked at Bruce, who shrugged.

"Do you know where any nicer hotels are in the area?" Steve asked.

"Define nice."

"Three stars or more." Bruce answered when Steve looked lost. "And do you take credit cards?"

"Cash only."

"Then to an ATM first please." Bruce said.

"You got it." The driver answered.

"What's an ATM?" Steve whispered in Bruce's ear.

"When we get there you can get out with me and I'll show you how to use one." Bruce said, and he held true to his word. Soon, to the cabbie's confusion, they both were getting out to use the machine. Bruce patiently explained to Steve were to put in the card, what numbers to put in when, and what the point was in having both money and the card. It calmed Bruce down to explain something simple, with someone who was so unjudgmental. Steve wished he could've payed more attention. He kept being distracted by Bruce though. Just the little things, really. His creased, tan hand slipping the card into the machine, while his other one ran through his beautiful curls. The smile that just touched the corner of his lips when Steve understood something. The patience in his voice. The continual glances down at his watch that gave Steve a surge of worry along with the other, less explainable emotion in his stomach. He thought it was too soon when they went back in the cab to drive to the hotel. Bruce slipped the driver a couple hundred as they left, and Steve figured he had taken charge of the money.

"How much is a room for a night?" Bruce asked, leaning over the hotel counter a bit. Steve leaned against it as well when he caught himself staring at Bruce's backside.

"Sir, this is a quality establishment." The man behind the counter said, his words weighed.

"Your point being?"

"You spending a night together here could cause quite the stir. " He answered, and Bruce turned to the confused looking Steve.

"Let's just go." He whispered.

"What's the problem?" Steve asked softly.

"They think we're a gay couple, so they don't want to give us a room."

"But we're not."

"No Steve, we're not." He whispered. "But I don't really want to spend my night with people like that."

"So they'll refuse someone a room simply because they are homosexual?"

"Apparently." Bruce said. He took another step closer to the door, but Steve took two steps closer to the counter.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." He said to the man.

"Sir I have a right to practice my religious beliefs here." The man answered, crossing his arms.

"Do not blame religion for you being a hateful person." Steve almost growled, getting much closer to the man over the counter.

"I never said I hated you." The man said, sound appalled at the idea. "But I do not want homosexual intercourse taking place in this establishment."

"This is America!" Steve said. "We are suppose to be the twenty first century. Haven't people decided to let people love whoever they want yet?" He hit the desk at the end of the last line for emphasis and Bruce jumped.

"Steve..." He said warningly.

"Exactly." The man answered. "This is America. America is a land of entrepreneurs who chose how to run their own business. America is the land of God, and no man can love God and another man, and God can love no man who loves another man. Now I've been civil up to this point, but that doesn't mean I have to be civil forever. I've requested that you leave and I'd appreciate it if you respected my requests as an employee of this fine establishment. We do not want you infecting-"

"Infecting?!" Steve interrupted, unable to take it for any longer. "America was suppose to be the shelter for those other countries did not want! America is the land of God, who ate with tax collectors and sinners. God loves all his children. Being gay is no diease. No one else can catch it, and even if they did, they'd have ever right to be proud!" He hit the desk again and this time Bruce laid a hand on his arm.

"Steve.." He said warningly.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: So this still has some homophobia at the beginning, and a small mention of a slight pill overdose. For those of you have read it, there's a small reference to Beloved, I saw the opportunity and had to take it. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

(Line Break)

"He's blaspheming the name of our nation Bruce!" Steve screamed. Bruce took a deep, shaking breath, trying to remain calm despite the growing pain in his head, and anger through out him. He thought they both were being idiots, because Steve should've seen the pointlessness and danger of this fight on what was already such a stressful night.

"And if you don't stop, I'll kill the people of this nation." Bruce said, keeping his voice soft and even. "Be the bigger person Steve. There's more hotels down the road." For the first time Steve turned and looked at Bruce. If you didn't know him he'd look composed as ever. He had learned to hide the symptoms until the last moment; it helped him keep a hold on his mind when he was able to keep a hold of his body. But there was a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead and his eyes were growing cloudy.

"What the fuck is your boyfriend talking about?" The man behind the counter asked, beginning to grow nervous.

"Okay Bruce." Steve said, setting a hand on the man's shoulder in what was suppose to be a comforting manner. At first Bruce flinched away, but after the initial shock he didn't shrug it off. The little surprise wasn't particularly good for his heart rate but he could manage. Steve led him out of the door.

"I'm sorry Bruce." Steve said softly. "I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine." Bruce said, starting his deep measured breaths. "You stopped in time."

"Do you need a break?"

"No. I'm fine. Let's just go. This time why don't you ask? And make sure you say we want two beds right at the beginning."

"Can I ask you a question?" Steve asked softly, looking away from him.

"Will it raise my heart rate more than 20 beats?" Bruce asked with a tired smirk.

"It can wait till tomorrow." Steve mumbled. He didn't want to make anything any worse for Bruce by having such a serious talk when Bruce obviously just wanted to be sleeping.

Getting into the next hotel went smoothly, no one seemed to give them a second look. Steve was nice enough to let Bruce take the first shower, even though it was his third of the day. There was something about warm water running over him, washing the tension out of his muscles. In his life, showers meant safety. They meant he wasn't on the run, or in hiding, or even forcing himself to live in places where the damage count would lower. Showers meant he was in a place with running water and other amenities. He never knew why he had grown so attached to them, until Hulk he had liked baths much better, but he thought it might just be because he had few people he could constantly count on to be there, even when it was safe to see him. But showers, well every place nice seemed to have showers.

Steve figured it would be better to shower in the morning. He tried to decide to get as ready for bed as possible, but he didn't think there was much to do to get ready. He pulled off his shirt and washed his face with water. He grabbed the tooth paste and used his finger to brush his teeth the best he could. Bruce came out not long after, when Steve was watching some home remodeling show, fully clothed and dripping wet. He laid down on the other bed. It was only nine, and yet he thought he was just about done for the day. "Make sure you turn off the television before you go to bed." Bruce said, slipping under the covers. A loud noise from it could be enough to wake him up even with the sleeping medication. "This might seem like a weird question, but do you make any loud noises when you sleep? I need to know if I need to prepare for it." Bruce looked over at Steve, really looked for the first time, and knew his heart rate spiked when his eyes drifted over his naked chest. He knew the man worked out constantly, and the serum had really done a number, but Bruce didn't get to see the full extent of the work until Steve's shirt was off. He closed his eyes and told himself not to have such thoughts. It was bad for the system.

Steve knew if he let himself sleep and dream there was a possibility he'd scream in the night. But there were a lot of nights he couldn't sleep, so he figured that would have to do. He remembered when Bruce was woken up during a dream in the cave and didn't want to cause that again. "No." Steve lied. "I know not to wake you up. That won't be a problem." He turned off the television, and Bruce sat up and opened his eyes to take his pills. Steve took off his pants, revealing modest blue boxers, and Bruce's eyes caught on his legs. He snapped out of it after a moment and dry swallowed the three sleeping pills. Steve glanced suspiciously at the bottle.

"It says you only need two." He commented, walking over to turn off the lights. Bruce shrugged, a hint of color raising to his cheeks.

"Could you leave one of those on?" He asked, and Steve was actually a bit relieved to obey.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Sorry this wasn't posted till this morning, it's not my fault. My iPod kept crashing and I had to get up early this morning so eventually I gave up and went to bed.

Hey guys, want to hear something awesome? I've been working on this for a full month! Meaning almost every day for a month you all have inspired me to write. Thank you! Also, on Saturday this fic had over 500 views in one day, which has been a sort of personal goal of mine. In fact, all you awesome readers got it up to 612! In the spirit of thankfulness, here's a sort of nice cute chapter as a respite before the evil one I have planned tomorrow :). Hope you enjoy!

(Line Break)

Bruce could hear Steve's steady breathing from the other side of the room. There was something inherently calm about the noise, it meant knowing someone else would be there all night, the gentle rhythm of life. He thought for once he might not even need medicine to fall asleep. But it was safer, to make sure he was well-rested and wouldn't run the risk of waking up during a nightmare. For a moment he let his thoughts wander to how he wished he could've had moments like this with Betty, just laying down and listening to her breathe. But he reminded himself that that was a long time ago, and he should be more than over it. That he should enjoy the comfort of having a friend right now, rather than wishing about what could've been. So he didn't stop his thoughts from drifting to Steve and Tony, even when he thought they were a bit too intimate to be friendly. He should be happy that he had a pillow, even if it wasn't someone's stomach, and that at least there was a blanket to wrap around him. He should be happy that Steve was in another bed, and that just having him near was enough to make him comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Steve pretended to sleep till he was sure Bruce was asleep, not wanting to bother the man. Apparently the medicine had worked well, because it hadn't take him long at all. Steve considered checking Bruce's medicine, but he didn't think it was bad enough to warrant disturbing Bruce's privacy. When he heard the man's breathing steady, for what he considered a good length of time, he looked around the room for a pad of paper and a pen. He sat on the edge of his bed and glanced at Bruce continually, as he began drawing the beautiful body sprawled across the pristine white sheets. Drawing people always made him view them a bit more carefully. Suddenly he picked up on the slight stubble across Bruce's chin, the bit of muscle that the man himself always said he was missing, the curl of his hair, the length of his eyelashes, and the small indent where his glasses normally rested on his nose. It took him a few sheets of the hotel notepad to get in Bruce's whole body, and took up a good chunk of his waiting period, but Steve was glad he did it. He just hoped Bruce wouldn't wake up and find it creepy.

(Line Break)

Bruce woke up to the soft sound of a morning news show and the red numbers 4:52. It annoyed him continually that he could not sleep in past five am, even on the medicine, but he figured it was a trait that would be a part of him for quite awhile. He was too used to early morning wake up calls and needing to find places to hide from the light. As he woke up more fully and sat up to look around he noticed a just-showered Steve slipping on pants over his boxers and then looking around for his shirt. He also noticed his own morning wood, which he tactfully decided to ignore.

"Morning." Steve said, turning back to give him a tired but happy looking smile as he slipped his new found shirt over his head.

"You look loads worse than you did last night." Bruce muttered, turning to the end table and reaching around for his suppressants. He accidentally brushed a few small pieces of paper off the table. He noticed his face on one of them. He tried not to stare as he dry swallowed another pill.

"I couldn't sleep well." Steve answered.

"Could that possibly be because you stayed up all night drawing a very detailed and almost life sized portrayed of me?" Bruce asked, trying to sound like that was a normal pass time.

"I did that after I woke up," Steve answered,"I was bored."

"I heard you were good but... Wow. Mind if I?" He asked, motioning down at a page. Steve shook his head and Bruce reached down to pick up one of the papers. "This is amazing Steve. Though almost too flattering may I say. You can't cut off more than ten pounds or anything like that and expect people not to notice. But it's really, really great drawing."

"I didn't cut off any weight Bruce." Steve answered, slight indignity. "That's exactly what you look like."

"Sure." Bruce said, rolling his eyes. "It's another Hulk thing, really. It's hard to workout without raising your heart rate, and no matter how good I eat I can't seem to lose that last fifteen or twenty pounds. But that's not the point. The point is, this is so amazing. Do you draw a lot?"

"Bruce I think you're-" Steve started, but then his phone rang, and Fury was on the other end of the line, and he was angry.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: I think this chapter is trigger free. And rather action free, sorry about that. And I know it's a little after midnight; it's been a crazy day. Hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

(Line Break)

"I want all the Avengers in the third floor meeting room of the Stark Tower in half an hour." Fury said, his voice somehow both calm and filled with anger. "No excuses." He said,and then he hung up.

"We have to go." Steve sighed.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked, standing up.

"I don't know. Fury said we all have to get back to Stark Tower in half an hour. He seemed angry."

"Do you think something's actually wrong or that we did something stupid?" Bruce asked, grabbing the pills and walking to the door.

"With the way Tony was already partying by the time we left? He probably did something stupid that made us all look bad."

"Well that's better than the other option." Bruce said, and they went to turn in their keys and catch a cab.

(Line Break)

By the time they got there Clint and Natasha were waiting in the room, both sporting large mugs of coffee, and warning them it would be reasonable to assume that Thor would not be coming. Tony and Fury, however were nowhere to be found.

"Does anyone know what this is about?" Steve asked, sitting down in a rolling chair next to one of the heads of the tables. Everyone knew that in general the heads were left for Tony and Fury. They'd both throw a bitch fit if they didn't get them.

"No. And as far as we know, Tony didn't do anything stupider than normal." Natasha said. Bruce was fairly certain she had makeup on her neck.

"Should one of us actually get Tony?" Bruce asked. "If Fury's as angry as he seemed he's going to be even more pissed if we have to go on a hunt for Tony."

"Glad you're offering." Natasha said, taking swig of coffee. Bruce couldn't see what to do but sigh and walk off to Tony's main bedroom, where he hoped he would be found without any wild goose chase.

He didn't have to get too close to know what Tony was busy with. Tony had a bad habit of not closing his door when he had guests, which Bruce was fairly certain was for bragging purposes only. And the unmistakable sound of a women's moan came through the door, sending Bruce's heart racing. He decided to try a different approach entirely. He went back in the room, where Natasha and Clint were staring deep into their coffee and Steve was trying to find something to occupy himself with.

"I think you might want to take care of this." Bruce said, slumping back into his chair.

"What's going on?" Steve asked curiously.

"I believe he's in there fucking someone. It's not even six, I can't deal with this shit yet." Bruce said, running a hand through his hair. Steve sighed, not bothering to point out that it was almost six fifteen.

"I suppose it's my job then?" He asked, to which the two assassins gave their grunt of approval. He stood and made his way slowly to Tony's room. The only sound he could hear from the room was running water, so he pushed the door open tentatively, hoping to be able to see what was going on. Instead he saw an empty, unmade bed. The sound of rushing water came from the master bathroom connected to the bedroom, but a moment later, it turned off. There was the sound of fabric against skin and then Tony walked out, butt naked, dripping wet, and fully erect. Steve tried, and failed, on not staring.

"Can't you guys at least let me finish my fun? Besides, I was getting ready." He said, looking through dirty clothes piled on his floor. He pointed out one such pile. "Grab my underwear." He said and Steve held them out to him. "Aren't you going to help me get dressed?" He asked teasingly, but he pulled up the underwear anyway. "You know, while I look perfect with no work at all, I know it makes people like you feel better to think if you work hard enough you can actually achieve this level of hotness. If you interrupt me, you ruin the magic."

"Just come see Fury." Steve said, trying to keep his voice from being an angry. Sure enough, it was about more than just beauty sleep, as he saw big black eye's lean out the bathroom door at the threatening voice.

"Can't I at least finish?" Tony whined. "She's a D Cup."

"I don't know what that mean's except that you're disgusting." Steve responded. "You have five minutes."


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: So I think this chapter is trigger free, and I don't have much to say about it besides that. Hope you enjoy!

(Line Break)

Fury showed up ten minutes later, with Tony still a no-show. He took a a glance around the room, everyone now sitting straight and rigid. He sat down, and even the simple movement commanded attention.

"JARVIS lock this room down and cut off all surveillance to it." Fury commanded softly.

"Nick I am instructed to ignore all commands you give me." JARVIS answered, and for a moment, all the Avengers held their breath, unsure of how Fury would react. Then Steve spoke up,

"JARVIS please lock this room down and cut off all surveillance to it."

"Yes Captain Perfect." JARVIS monotoned, and there was the audible sound of locks clicking into place. Apparently, changes had been made to JARVIS overnight, and probably not positive ones. The situation seemed just as intense as it was a moment before. "Should I get Tony sir?" Steve asked.

"If he doesn't find our meeting important enough to show up, he doesn't need to be involved. If we need him he can be debriefed." Fury responded. Everyone was quiet a second longer, and then Fury began what they all came for. "At the moment this is simply to tell you to be ready. There have been a higher than average number of reports of tribes in Africa meeting a god, so they have been looked into, and there does indeed seem to be some sort of extraterrestrial or magical being. We have nothing yet to suggest that he, she, or it is hostile but we do believe they are powerful and you all should be ready to be shipped out to fight at any moment. Until then Barton and Romanov will be on surveillance. We will be shipping you out tonight to relieve part of the current team."

"How long?" Clint asked, sounding dejected.

"Until we can be totally sure everything is safe." Fury answered.

"You promised me July 15th." Clint said, and Fury raised his eyebrows.

"Excuse me?"

"You promised me July 15th off this year. I've been putting in extra time to earn it as a promise. Will I be getting that?"

"I think there are bigger concerns at the moment Barton. This has the possibility of being a global catastrophe." Fury said, and Clint opened his mouth again, but Steve spoke first.

"I'll do it." He said, and the whole table turned to look at him in surprise."

"Really Rogers? Do you think you're prepared for that? You're rather recognizable as well."

"Romanov can help me disguise myself." Steve answered. "It's about time I learn how to do missions like this."

"Romanov is this okay with you?" Fury asked, turning to look at Natasha. She nodded.

"I'd be happy to work with Captain Rogers sir."

"Good. Help him prepare and you'll get more information as the day progresses." Fury stood and strode out of the room. Steve stood as well to shake his hand and Bruce awkwardly followed suit, feeling completely out of place. He had never done meetings like this before, and even now he couldn't see the point. If he did have to bring in the other guy, which he hoped he didn't, this wouldn't help. With him the only thing you could do was aim the canon in the right direction and hope for the best. Bruce thought it was friendly fire more than half the time.

Clint walked over to Steve when Fury left the room, and Steve wasn't quite sure what to expect. For a moment he thought Clint might say something deep and meaningful, but instead Clint reached up high to clap Steve on the shoulder and said, "We're even", then quickly walked out the room. Steve nodded, pleased his debt was paid. He always thought he owed people something, ever since this new century everything was always being done for him. Natasha walked by him next.

"That was really nice Steve." She said, sounding genuinely pleased for a moment before snapping quickly into anger. "Now you tell me how the hell I'm going to disguise a six foot abs super solider."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out." He said, trying to sound both kind and patient, and Natasha scowled as he walked out. Then he was standing face to face with Bruce, alone, and he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say to him. Perhaps it was only goodbye for a short time but perhap not, and Steve had words building and brewing inside of him to the point that he was afraid that if he dealt with it or not, either way he might explode. "I'm going to go say goodbye to Tony, but don't worry, I'll come back and talk to you." Steve blurted out, quickly rushing out of the room.

Bruce sighed, wondering if he should wait there for a moment before giving up and heading back to his bedroom. He thought it was too late to get back in bed, but wouldn't mind a chance to wash off that horrible feeling of being ignored that he thought he should be used to by now. He should've known he would ruin everything. He probably had come off as clingy and strange, on top of dangerous. He didn't expect Steve to come at all, and if he did the conversation certainly wouldn't go how Bruce wished it would. Steve would tell him goodbye simply because it was the polite thing to do when Fury put them on the team together- nothing more, possibly less.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: This chapter has allusions to alcoholism. Anyway hope you enjoy, thank you to all those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed so far, please keep doing it if you like the story! It really keeps me going.

(Line Break)

This time, Steve knocked on Tony's door, holding his breath.

"Come in!" Tony called out.

Steve opened the door slowly. All the lights were turned off and the blinds were closed, clouding the room with darkness.

"Don't worry." Tony mumbled from where he laid on the bed. "Just you and me now. Want to grab me a beer?" He asked motioning towards a fridge in the corner that Steve suspected held nothing else.

"Not really." Steve answered, not wanting to condone his drinking, especially so early in the morning. Tony groaned and walked over, reaching in to grab a bottle himself. He popped off the lid and took a long swig. Steve scoffed a little.

"Don't give me that look." Tony said. "My head hurts. It's for medical purposes only."

"That's because you're hungover."

"Oh thanks, now I feel a lot better." Tony said sarcastically. Steve sighed.

"Whatever. I just came to tell you I'm leaving. Not sure how long. It's an assignment for Fury."

"Hmm." Tony said, and his eyes flickered over Steve, his expression unreadable. He took a few steps closer to him with a predatory look and Steve shifted nervously. Tony slowly knelt down and put the beer on the ground. Then, in Steve's mind everything happened all at once. There was a tongue halfway down his throat that certainly wasn't his and a hand on the back of his neck and an arm around his waist and beer spilling over his feet. Then his eyes were falling shut and his hands were traveling of their own accord, sliding all over a body where he didn't know how to place them, and he was trying to figure out what to do with his lips and tongue. Then something that was growing steadily harder was pressed against his thigh and his eyes were snapping open, staring into the eyes studying him, and his hands stopped awkwardly somewhere between armpits and waists and the mouth was leaving his and even though he didn't need air as much since the serum he was panting.

"When you're wherever you're going you should learn how to kiss, bone Nat, and if you must die, do it with style." Tony said. Then he walked over to the fridge, grabbed another beer, and walked out a different door. He never thought he had been very good with goodbyes but he thought that was one of the better ones. He didn't have to ask any questions that's answers would scare him to the point of drinking, and It looked like he had left Steve with a hard-on rather than tears at the very least.

Steve brushed his thumb over his lips for a moment. He realized he hadn't been kissed like that in ninety or so years and he knew his face was burning. He told himself it didn't mean anything, that Tony just liked kissing, but then thought that Tony didn't decide the meaning in everything, and if his stomach felt like this even when the kiss was over, well then he had something to worry about.

Steve thought about the best way to deal with it as he walked over to Bruce's room. He figured leaving should take care of the problem. Problems really, when he realized two faces were forming in his mind. But he also knew neither was an option. Tony was- well Tony. Anti-commitment, anti-relationship, practically anti-American. And Bruce, well he wasn't quite sure with Bruce. But Bruce had said he wasn't interested in relationships. Steve knew it was probably a safety issue and it pained him to think about it. To think that Bruce refused to let himself feel love and happiness, because he thought even not being alone would turn into a killer, that if he was anything other than an emotionless robot people would get hurt. He knew someone should tell Bruce otherwise but he quite frankly didn't think he could handle it, and he didn't think he could make any difference even if he could. When someone was scared to feel happy, there didn't seem to be anything left in life for them. Bruce's suffering seemed meaningless because, in his eyes, there was no hope of his life ever getting better. And Steve wanted to be able to help Bruce deal with that. He really did. But he didn't think Bruce was ready or he was ready or maybe that either of them would ever be ready, so he decided instead to be a friend and knock on the door and show he was there for him, romantically or not.

No one answered. It didn't mean much. "JARVIS?" Steve said, talking up towards the roof and unable to drop his constant feeling of unease whenever he talked to the AI.

"Yes Captain Perfect?" JARVIS asked.

"Tell Bruce I'm here, and want to talk talk to him." Steve replied.

"I will report this message to Fuck Goal." JARVIS responded.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Sorry this is late! I fell asleep posting it. This chapter has minor allusions to abuse and a lot of general sadness. Hope you enjoy!

"Fuck Goal Captain Perfect is requesting permission to see you." JARVIS' voice chimed inside Bruce's lab.

"What did you just call me?" Bruce asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Fuck Goal is the newly set preferred name for Bruce Banner sir." JARVIS answered.

"Ah." Bruce said, rolling his eyes. "Do I have the clearance to over ride that?"

"You do not."

"Well go ahead and let Steve then in I guess." He said. He used to manually lock the door as well, not completely trusting Tony's AI in case something malfunctioned, but lately he'd been more lax. He made a mental note to remember to start that up again as the door swung open.

The first word that came to Bruce's mind when he saw Steve was flustered. His hair was ruffled, his cheeks were red, and he was slightly out of breath, leaving Bruce to wonder if he had spent his final time in the tower working out. With how often Steve did it, Bruce wouldn't be totally surprised. More surprised that he came to say goodbye to him really.

"Hey." Steve said, looking over Bruce carefully. There were so many things he wanted to say to the man, so many things he wanted to ask him, but he didn't want to stress Bruce out and leave, so he reminded himself that he'd back soon, and Bruce would be okay then.

"Hey." Bruce answered, his eyes traveling over the other man. It seemed, somehow, Steve had gotten just his feet and the bottom of his pants wet. "You've been hiking through a swamp?" He asked teasingly.

"What?" Steve asked, then followed Bruce's gaze down to his feet. "Oh, uh, I kicked over one of Tony's beer bottles." He said. "Sorry for tracking it into your lab." He wasn't really sure if it was Tony or himself that knocked it over, or if that statement was enough to technically count as telling the truth, but he wasn't sure how else to answer Bruce.

"It's really becoming a problem, isn't it? His drinking I mean." Bruce said. He believed it was true, but he more said it as something to say than anything else.

"Yeah." Steve said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Anyway, I really wanted to come say goodbye. I'm sure I'll be back soon but..." His voice trailed off.

"Thanks Steve." Bruce said, and he really meant it. He was still getting used to this whole having friends thing, but it meant something to him that Steve would use up some of his time getting ready to come say goodbye to him. He couldn't really understand why, but he knew it was a nice sentiment. Steve leaned it and hugged Bruce. Bruce's whole body tensed and his heart leapt to his throat. His head pounded and he felt Hulk roar in the back of his mind.

"Steve." He said, and Steve drew back quickly. Bruce tried not to pant. He had never had this problem. It was true that he had never been a fan of physical contact, his past enforced that, and he thought Hulk heightened his feeling that everything would turn to violence. But a hug from someone he trusted, while he didn't really appreciate it, shouldn't do more than get a little growl from Hulk if it didn't last long. And yet Hulk was echoing in his head.

Steve frowned. Apparently he had made a wrong move. Maybe it was no longer customary to hug goodbye. Or maybe Bruce could tell how he felt and he wanted to remind him that he was not available. Or maybe, worst of all, it was a normal thing for friends to do even in this time period, and he had totally misread their relationship. Maybe Bruce saw him as just his commander. Maybe he wanted to make sure Steve kept his distance in every possible way. Either way, Steve barely paused to say, "Bye Bruce." And rush out the door.

Bruce knew he should be pleased Steve knew the proper protocol. If Hulk was coming, he should leave. And yet there was still something remarkably disheartening about watching Steve walk away when he was in such mental and physical turmoil. He took deep breaths and tried to pretend like he didn't want Steve there anyway.

Steve walked around till he found Clint. Then, on a whim, he wishpered goodbye and gave him a hug. Clint hugged him back, slightly uncomfortable but not completely unwilling. Steve took it to mean that him and Bruce weren't even friends in the end.

Neither of them spoke to the other again before Steve left.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: This chapter has minor allusions to alcoholism. Please note that recently I've been trying to answer every review I get. However, sometimes it might take a couple of days. On certain days I barely have the time/energy to post a chapter. That doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the review, just be patient with me! Thank you so much for all the positive feedback lately, please keep it up! Hope you like the chapter.

(Line Break)

"Do you think Bruce and Tony will be okay?" Steve asked Natasha as the plane climbed higher and higher in the air. Natasha snorted.

"Thanks for caring about me, Clint, and Thor Captain." She said, and he frowned.

"I do care about you! I just mean... You all seem a bit more... Mentally sound." He said, then sighed. "That seemed meaner to the two of them than I wanted it to be."

"Make out or sex?" Natasha asked.

"What?"

"Come on Steve." Natasha said, sporting a ghost of a grin. "It's your first time leaving the nest. That means Tony took a stab at you. You'll need to tell me details if you want me to help you out."

"He does that to everyone?" Steve asked.

"Yep. Me and him fucked, I think Thor and him might've, or it at least was a very heated make-out, he got about half a second on Clint's lips before his head was bleeding, and Bruce never leaves so I'm still waiting for the big one." Natasha answered. Steve tried to clear his face so it wasn't obvious that he was disappointed for not being special. He should've known that was all it was.

"The big one?" He asked, trying to keep his curiosity at a polite level.

"Well yeah. Will Hulk make an appearance? If so, what will happened? If not, what will Bruce do? Will he want Tony to kiss him? If so will he kiss back? If not will he just let it happen anyway? He always lets you both walk all over him. I mean, obviously, part of him does want to kiss Tony. That's never been a secret. But there's a lot of things that Bruce wants to do that he never would do."

"You think Bruce wants to kiss Tony?" Steve asked softly.

"Hell yeah have you ever seen the two of them together? I'm not sure if either of them know it, but it's definitely true."

"Does Tony like Bruce too?"

"Tony wants to fuck Bruce. But actually be in a real committed relationship that wouldn't just ruin Bruce's psyche," She said, pausing to shrug, "that could go either way." He sighed and she looked him over. "Fuck. Both of them Steve? Really?" She asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said, but he didn't put a lot of effort into the lie.

"I thought you liked Alphas." She pointed out.

"But Bruce is..." He trailed off and a moment later Natasha butted in.

"Special? A particularly sad looking puppy? The love of your rom-com little life?"

"I was going to say different in his sexuality. I was just looking for the best way to say it."

"Right. So let me take a guess at what's happened. Bruce is special, for whatever reason your little heart desires, but Tony's the one he kissed you. And he was a pretty fucking good kisser. So fuck Tony get with Bruce and be done with it."

"But I don't to just want to f- sleep with Tony..." He said his voice trailing off again. "Besides, Bruce isn't interested in dating. And I'm not sure I am either."

"Ah. So you think both Tony and Bruce are special snowflakes and you know both of them are horrible options. Well, good luck with that one." She said, rolling her eyes as she smirked.

(Line Break)

Tony was still working in the lab when JARVIS alerted him of the problem. He had tried to ignore the fact that it was four am because he knew he couldn't sleep, and drunk science was at least better than drunk staring at the ceiling. He vaguely remembered a promise to himself to stop drinking so much, but then he vividly remembered that Steve had left to go fuck knows where, some African country he thought, to investigate some unearthly being who may or may not try to kill him, and he grabbed another beer. It didn't help that Bruce had not left his personal lab till he went to bed (Tony had made sure to keep tabs on that, it was a good indicator of how Bruce was feeling) and Tony wasn't quite sure why. He figured it was just nervousness about Natasha and Steve leaving, but that didn't make it any better. Tony knew it was hypocritical, but he didn't like the way Bruce kept all his feelings inside him, pushed them down until he exploded with anger. He didn't think it could be healthy. But he didn't know how to deal with anything but by drinking, joking, and having JARVIS check up on people. He knew all three were probably poor ways of handling life, but, at least currently, the third was proven useful.

"Sir." JARVIS said, "The other guy is close to making an appearance in Fuck Goal's bedroom."


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: This chapter has major trigger warnings for graphic violence, multiple mentions of suicide, allusions to abuse, mentions of mental illnesses very negatively effecting someone's life, and just overall dark themes. If you don't think you can handle this, skip this chapter and at the beginning of tomorrow's chapter I'll give a very basic summary of this one.

For those of you that do keep reading, please know that the first section is a dream, forgive me for an anatomically incorrect happenings, or wrong information when it comes to the gun, because this is a dream. Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter even though it is fairly dark, and please tell me what you think of this new approach. (If it's too dark I won't write something like this again. Probably.)

(Line Break)

He was just some solider. Nameless, barely given a face. Just following orders. The orders included a gun. That wasn't abnormal, but it still made Bruce uncomfortable. He took a step forward, and Bruce took a step back, till the curve of his spine was pressed firmly against the smooth surface of a wall. Then he felt something inside him snap with an almost audible ferocity. He didn't turn into Hulk. He didn't need to. Rather, he became Hulk. He was Hulk, and Hulk was him, and there was no separation between the two, mentally or physically. He took a step forward and yanked the gun out of the man's hands, then shove it back to hit him square in the face. The man stumbled to the ground and it would've been so easy to shoot him in the head, to walk away and be done with it, or maybe even leave without violence if he was feeling especially generous. But it wasn't what Bruce wanted. No, there was a part of him, a very real part of him, that wanted blood and guts and entrails. He found himself stepping on the man's hand, pushing till small bones crunched underneath his toes. He tipped his head back for a moment, to truly relish the scream. Then he leaned down and began shooting the man. But he didn't shoot his head or his chest. Nothing that would kill him right away, not when it seemed so much more fun to maim. He shot the man's other hand. One of his legs. The spot where his neck collided with his shoulder. He had perfect aim, because he was made for this, a gun in his head and blood seeping into his shoes. Each bullet produced another scream; the man was a never ending fountain of pain. Finally, Bruce took a step back and unloaded. He sprayed bullet after bullet in the man's chest, until the gun ran and he knelt down and pressed his fingers against the many wounds, relishing the feel of the warm blood washing over his hands, cleansing them of his many other sins.

(Line Break)

These dreams always bothered Bruce much more than ones that were actually scary. Because he woke up feeling so calm, calmer than any breathing exercise or meditation could ever make him, pleased even. He told himself the dreams weren't his fault, that it was Hulk and he couldn't control them. Then he told himself that whether he liked it or not he was Hulk and Hulk was a part of him and that he didn't just come from nowhere. That Hulk was a fifteen year old boy who tried to blow up a school building with himself inside. That Hulk was a twenty year old that dreamed of suicide and a eight year old who hated any man that looked like his father. A five year old already swearing one day he'd kill a man and a twenty two year old who hated everyone he saw. A boy and a teenager and a man who heard voices telling him to kill himself, to kill others, that violence was always the answer. And he could tell himself that Betty changed him, or that challenging work changed him, that having friends changed him, but when it came down to it Hulk was still in there, and only one thing changed him: a gamma ray. And it wasn't that he was any different, he was never any different, it was just that he had finally separated into two people and one couldn't stop the other, but that didn't make either person more or less a part of him.

This inevitably led to a panic attack almost every time.

(Line Break)

By the time Tony got there Bruce was already mostly calm. He had stopped his frantic pacing, his clawing at his head to try to get rid of the beast, and instead he retched on the floor, which at least meant that he was in control of his body. Hulk didn't puke. Then he laid on the bed and systematically tightened and loosened every muscle, slowly breathing in and out with a steady rhythm, in-time with the muscle movement. He forced himself to stop thinking, and numbed and dampened every emotion, the bad and the good with equal ferocity. His body still ached, and Hulk was on the very cusp of entering his mind, but even as a shaking, puke splattered, numb mess, Bruce would rather be himself than the monster. Especially when there was no excuse for the other guy to show up except his own lack of self-control and poor handling when it came to the truth of who he was, and how he felt and acted.

Tony walked in, stepped in the puke, and considered leaving before he was totally in the doorway.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N:A/N: Sorry I didn't post yesterday, a friend was spending the night so I was distracted. For those of you who didn't read the last chapter Bruce had a nightmare where he, not Hulk, was violent, and he enjoyed it (because of Hulk, not himself.) To calm himself down Bruce tried to force himself to be numb. Tony came in and stepped on puke. That's basically the gist. In this chapter you should know that in this fic it will be said that Alphas normally have to bite a certain portion of an Omegas neck for an extended period of time to be bonded with their Alpha. As always though, Bruce and Hulk are weird. This chapter also talks about Bruce forcing himself to be numb to avoid bad feelings, which I know might negatively affect some people. This is your warning. Anyway this is already a really long authors note so I'll let you get to the actual story. Hope you like the chapter, review if you do!

(Line Break)

"Fuck." Tony half-screamed, jumping on one foot. Bruce flinched and he quickly covered his mouth. A muffled sorry barely made it through and he took off both shoes, throwing them on the tile floor of Bruce's bathroom. He went and sat by Bruce's bed, watching him for a moment, his eyes sliding over Bruce's pale, sweating body. Bruce tried to act like that wasn't making everything worse, and reminded himself to never wear boxers to bed again. He'd have to buy pajamas. He closed his eyes and continued his breathing exercise till he felt completely numb again. "Do you want me to stay and talk to you?" Tony asked, his voice breaking past Bruce's wall of calm. But Bruce thought he was in control still, so he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Up to you. I'm fine now." Bruce said, but Tony wondered if he understood the meaning of the word fine.

"What caused it?" He asked.

"A nightmare."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Bruce said, looking down at his lap. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should be embarrassed, ashamed, but he was just tired. Not physically, but just so mentally and emotionally spent that he couldn't bother caring. And it just seemed to be another thing Hulk was taking from him. This was when he was a real monster. When he thought such horrible things and he couldn't care, he wasn't allowed to care, or all his thoughts would become actions. But it was so easy for him to make himself stop caring. It was almost as if he never cared in the first place. And Bruce knew it should've mortified him.

Tony thought he was making Bruce uncomfortable when the other man simply sat, pensive, for far too long."Well, if you're okay, I'm going to go get drunk..." He said, standing up slowly. He realized he was probably already much more than drunk and was trying to decide whether it was amusing or sad when Bruce said,

"Can we talk?" He thought it might be a conversation better to be had when he was emotionally un-involved.

"Sure, what's up?" Tony asked. He plopped back down at the end of Bruce's bed, and Bruce scrambled to pull the blanket over his half-naked body when he thought Tony was staring at him. Of course Tony was still perfectly put together as always. Bruce wondered if he ever slept, and if that was a problem that should be dealt with.

"Remember when I went into heat?"

"How could I forget such a hot man begging for my dick?" He asked, and Bruce shot him a look that said it wasn't funny. Tony didn't understand why, because it wasn't meant to be funny, it was suppose to be as flirty as fuck and he wasn't sure when exactly Bruce would notice that. "But yes, I remember. Actually, I wanted to ask you something as well."

"And if I don't let you ask now you'll probably forget." Bruce said. He wasn't sure if he should be amused or sad.

"Good. Glad I can go first. Is Hulk your Alpha, and if so how the hell did that happened, and if not I think he thinks he is." Tony said, and the whole thing came out as one fast, staccato statement rather than a question.

"That's quite the question." Bruce muttered, then took a deep breath, trying to figure out the best way to answer. "I'm not really sure. I mean.. I've wondered. Because we're just so intimate- Fuck that sounded weird. I just mean he's always in my mind and- fuck." Bruce took another deep breath. "Our relationship is very complex and intense and I'm not sure whether or not that makes it an Alpha/Omega bond. Obviously I do not have the bond mark but that may not mean a thing. I've tried to use scent as a capacity to understand by testing whether or not my scent seems like a bonded Omega, but obviously my scent is fucked up, and I can't tell if it's just the mixing of the two or a bonded scent that's more somewhere in the middle. I can't do any testing on how the two of us react to each other and I can never do any testing on Hulk so it is very hard to get complete data. In the end I decided it wasn't all that important anyway, so I've given up on figuring out."

"Three more questions. First off your smell is not "fucked up"." Tony said, and was surprised to find he sounded angry, protective.

"That wasn't a question." Bruce pointed out. "And I can scientifically prove to you it's fucked up."

"Oh really?" Tony asked with a chuckle. "Is fucked up the official scientific conclusion?"

"It is abnormal to the point that all tests so far on my status have proved inconclusive. Next question." Bruce said stiffly.

"Can I smell you?" Tony asked.


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: I don't believe there's any triggers or anything for this chapter. Just Tony's bad flirting and Bruce's obliviousness. Hope you enjoy, please review if you do!

(Line Break)

Bruce paused for a moment. Normally he was embarrassed by his smell, the unnatural quality it had, how some mornings even he woke up surprised at the way the scents clashed that day. In general, an Alpha scenting an Omega was a sign of flirtation or interest, but Bruce figured all things considered this was mostly just scientific. "Thank you for asking first." Bruce said, wanting to promote positive behavior in Tony. "I don't think you'll smell anything I can't, but you can try if you want."

"Don't doubt me Green Machine." Tony said, winking. He leaned in and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Just as Bruce had predicted Tony couldn't tell whether or not the omega part was bonded, especially since the Alpha part was stronger than normal with Hulk so close to the forefront of Bruce's mind. Tony knew that most people didn't like the scent, but Tony wasn't most people. He loved the way he couldn't be quite sure what he'd get in each breath in, that even Bruce's scent was unpredictable.

Bruce sat there for much longer than he thought was necessary while Tony practically inhaled him. "Are you done yet?" He asked when it was starting to get fairly insane. Tony took one last deep breath and pulled back.

"Can't blame me that you smell better sex." Tony said, smiling in pure bliss and slowly opening his eyes. Bruce snorted his disbelief.

"So what do you think?"

"Impossible to tell. Hulk is pretty strong today, maybe if you let me try more often…" Tony said, winking again.

"Don't be gross." Bruce said, rolling his eyes.

"Believe me, there's nothing gross about your smell, little pink Hulk." Tony said, but he could see Bruce didn't believe him. People often asked if he was Alpha or Omega. He never had gotten a sincere positive comment about it before, and he didn't think that would start now. "So what did you have to talk to me about?"

"I need a way to deal with Hulk and sex, especially when it comes to heat." Bruce said, trying to lead into the subject carefully.

"Have you tried to fucking someone?" Tony asked. "I volunteer as tribute!"

"That wouldn't work Tony." Bruce said, surprised at the way his heart picked up a little at the suggestion. He knew it was just a joke.

"Why not? It's the goatee isn't it? It works for some people but not others. I could wear the suit. Some people are really into that, it covers the goatee, and you wouldn't have to worry about Hulk if I was in the suit Let me fuck you in the suit Brucie!" Tony said, as close to all in one breath as he could manage.

"Don't be ridiculously Tony." Bruce said.

"It's not ridiculous. It has a special setting that's has had many many trial runs. It opens up for all the needed fun bits, won't let me chaff, and is carefully made not to hurt people's bodies. I am a gentle lover Hogan. Unless of course you're looking for an animal in bed." Tony said, leaning in to Bruce suggestively and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Tony come on, it's the middle of the night, Hulk's still kind of a problem right now, and we really don't have time for this kind of joking around."

"I always have time to joke around." Tony retorted, "And it's only a joke if I can't provide, but let me tell you Baby, I never have performance issues." Tony leaned even closer and Bruce felt his heart leap in his chest. He tried to move away, but he was stuck in the blanket. For a moment he struggled, limbs flailing, but then he his whole body took a turn and he fell promptly on the floor, dragging the blanket off the bed after him. Tony almost followed him to the ground, but ended up catching himself at the last second. Being near Tony combined with a hard, sudden hit on the floor sent Bruce into overdrive. He found himself panting again, in another mental battle for dominance in his mind. He forced himself to his hand and knees, because gaining power over his body was an important step in gaining power over his mind. He took a few deep breaths. He had fought off much worse before, but he knew it would still leave him mentally and physically exhausted before he got Hulk quiet enough to hope to fall back asleep.

"You should go." Bruce said, the words barely finding the way out of his dry throat and cracked lips. Tony wavered for a moment longer than he normally would let himself, then turned to walk away to give Bruce space.

"It seems you literally fell for me." Tony called back as he got to the door. Bruce screamed back,

"I want chemically castrated!"


	38. Chapter 38

A/N: This chapter is a bit longer, so that's cool. It also talks of panic attacks if that bothers anyone. I know the description here is fairly short and doesn't do a true panic attack justice, but once I actually started writing I realized they were harder to portrayed than I thought, and that's coming from someone who suffers from panic attacks regularly. Maybe I'm just too close to the issue? Anyway, to anyone who thinks I did a sucky job explaining the panic attack, I agree and I'm sorry. On the topic of suckiness, I don't have a beta, so please warn me if you see anything wrong with any of my work, whether it's a misspelling or whatever. I'd rather have you tell me and be slightly embarassed than have it be wrong for everyone who reads it. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter! And thank you so much readers, this story has ten thousand views (No way! Where do you all even come from?) and that makes me really excited.

(Line Break)

"What?" Tony asked, whipping around.

"We'll talk about it later." Bruce dismissed, panting.

"You can't just tell me something like that and expect me to leave." Tony said, growing upset.

"Tony I need to calm down. We can talk about this in the morning." Bruce tried to keep his voice calm, even, though he was starting to worry at seeing Tony's reaction.

That's when Tony felt it, the nervous, consuming energy. For a moment his vision swarmed.

Bruce recognized the look on his face. The look of a scared deer, a gun inches from his head. He could see the shaking, the sweating and knew what it meant. "Tony." He said, trying to keep his voice soft and calm. "Breath." At that Tony bolted, slamming the door shut behind him. Bruce winced and found himself choking, fighting once again. Hulk screamed in anger and Bruce found himself getting consumed with it. He was angry at Tony for putting him in this position. He was angry at himself for fucking up the ray and sacrificing himself for that kid. He was angry at the people who put Tony in a cave and taught him that life was scary and should make even a man like him anxious. He was angry at Hulk for keeping him from being able to help Tony, to make him feel safe. He was angry at Steve for being too far away to help, and angry at him for being a more soothing and protecting person than he could ever be. He was angry at the heart rate monitor that dictated his life and at the sleeping pills that he needed just to force himself not to wake up terrified for his life and the bed that was lavish and comfortable and more than a murderer like him ever deserved. For a moment, he thought he was even angrier than Hulk was.

(Line Break)

Tony stumbled into his room, his balance off-kilter and his body shaking. "JARVIS!" He screamed. He needed guidance. He didn't know how he could sit there useless even a second longer. He thought he needed to do something, anything, but couldn't figure out what.

"Sir?" JARVIS answered.

"Help me out here JARVIS!"

"May I suggest deep breaths sir? Possibly running some water on your face? You will simply have to wait for you sympathetic-"

"Cut the shit JARVIS!" Tony screamed, but to him his voice sounded hoarse and shifty. He tried to breath in, out, in a steady rhythm like he had seen Bruce do a million times. He stumbled to the bathroom and attempted to stick his head under the faucet, but instead it bashed against the bowl. He left it there anyway and turned on the cold water, letting it run over his sweaty face and swelling head. Slowly the real world came back into view. He pulled out his head when his face started to feel numb from the cold, and turned the faucets to off.

"How's my head JARVIS?" He asked.

"You'll live." The AI responded coolly. Tony stood there a moment longer and spent the rest of the night tinkering in the lab.

(Line Break)

Bruce forced himself into the bed despite the pain in his head. He forced himself to let out a scream that was more pain than anger. He took deep breathes even when he felt his lungs were on fire and refused to let Hulk gain any headway. Mentally he could only make a slight difference in the battle, it was a defense, not an offense, while if he let his heart rate raise Hulk grew in power. But he knew it was still important to what was left of his mental well-being after the fact. When he had really hard days he convinced himself that if he could refuse to let Hulk make him hate people he didn't really hate, then there was still a difference between the man and the monster. So he tried to lower his heart rate physically, while reminding himself and Hulk that he didn't want to let Hulk out because he didn't hate these things, Bruce wasn't really angry at them at all in fact. Tony was proving just how much he cared. He had saved a life in going under the ray. Even the terrorists that had kidnapped Tony, though they had done horrible things, they were gone now, and they had helped show Tony the error in some of his ways. Hulk was a hero, he had saved Tony during the Loki incident and given hope to all the people. Steve was the perfect man, and even at that moment he was probably saving lives.

Bruce wasn't sure if he really believed all that, but when paired with the proper relax techniques it was enough to keep Hulk at bay. Soon he was relatively calm once again. "JARVIS how's Tony?" He asked.

"Tony has hit his head sir, but it is no more than a minor injury and did not result in a concussion or anything other than pain and slight swelling on the exterior of his head."

"And the panic attack?"

"It has stopped sir." JARVIS said, and Bruce breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where is he now?"

"In the third floor lab, working."

"Keep an eye on him for me JARVIS." Bruce said.

"I always do." The voice echoed in the room, and Bruce laid down, pulled the blanket over him, and glanced at the bottle of sleeping pills. He started to unscrew the cap, and reminded himself that he had already had some. If he was going to reprimand Tony he needed to get some better habits himself. He set the bottle back on the end table. If he needed to lose sleep to prove a point, so be it.


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: I think this is trigger free. Sorry the chapter ends in sort of an awkward place. I'm tired and it's long enough as is. You can expect it to pick up right where it left off tomorrow though so that makes up for it hopefully? Anyway, hope you like the chapter, thanks for reading!

(Line Break)

Tony forced himself to wait till seven to knock on Bruce's door. Part of him knew that still classified as early morning, but most of him had long past stopped caring.

By seven, Bruce was up and showering. Really, he didn't think he had done much but doze off and on through a lot of episodes of Full House, but he refused to let himself get out of bed till six, purely on principal. "Sir, Iron Man is waiting outside your door." JARVIS chimed to Bruce, and Bruce jumped at the sound, slipped on the wet floor, and hit his head on the wall as he slammed against the ground. The pain was doubled as Hulk tried to make use of the opportunity. "Why are you in my fucking shower?" Bruce asked, rubbing his head angrily.

"Iron Man responded that while he is not, he wishes he was, and he will take that as a formal invitation." JARVIS responded after a small pause.

"Fuck! You weren't suppose to tell him that!" Bruce rubbed his head and stood up.

"Iron Man is requesting entrance sir."

"Fine. Tell him to wait in the bedroom." He said, standing up and quickly washing the shampoo out of his hair. He swore he could hear the smug when Tony walked in.

"So I can come join you?" Tony's silky voice came from outside the door. He wanted to diffuse what would obviously be tense situation with a bit of teasing.

"You weren't suppose to hear that." Bruce called back sheepishly.

"Oh really? Then who was?"

"I didn't know JARVIS would speak to me in the shower. Can you grab me my clothes please? They're on the bed." Bruce said, and Tony walked over to comply. Then he threw the door open and held them out, staring with a grin at a naked Bruce as he stepped out of the shower. "Tony! Get out!"

"Fine." Tony said, walking back out the door. "If you're getting castrated I want to get a good look of your dick first though. You're depriving the world of quite a commodity. Can I keep it in a jar?" Bruce quickly shut the door behind Tony.

"I said /chemically/ castrated Tony. I will not lose my penis. If I simply had it removed I believe Hulk would grow it right back."

"So I could cut off your penis, stick it in a jar, and still be fucked by you later?"

"No, because I'd never talk to you again." Bruce said, quickly pulling on clothes.

"We don't need to talk for sex." Tony said in a sing-song voice.

"Can't we focus on what's important?" Bruce asked, walking out of the bathroom.

"Sex is very important Bruce."

"Good to know what your priorities are. Now can we stop joking and actually talk about this?"

"I'm serious." Tony said, and he really was, but he knew with Bruce it would take a lot more than that for him to understand that he was being flirted with. "But I'll play along. Why do you want to lose your manhood?"

"Tony I don't want to lose my manhood, because for one gender is not determined by the chemicals in your body, and two I want to stop being an omega, not a man."

"And what will you be then?"

"Nothing. I don't need to be anything. Or I might still be partly an omega. We'll have to see how it goes. Just think of it as really powerful suppressants."

"You'd never be able to have kids."

"Tony my DNA randomly decides it wants to become a giant green rage monster. I couldn't have kids either."

"Your sex drive would be lowered."

"I'm not sure that's a negative." Bruce said after a pause.

"Okay, well there's always the facts that it's unbelievably dangerous, unbelievably painful, has killer side effects, and might not work." Tony shot back.

"Tony I can't die, I can handle a bit of pain, and if it doesn't work what do I have to lose?"

"What exactly do you have to gain? That's what I don't understand."

"Tony you watched me in heat." Bruce said, trying to be patient. "You saw how hard that is for me. With chemical castration I wouldn't have to deal with that."

"I think you need to explore some other options first."

"Such as?"

"Fucking me. Masturbating more. Keeping Hulk in some sort of safe room, finding him an Omega that can take him, you can even just send in me, let him have fun. Some crazy exotic therapy. Anything but chemical castration. No one does this Bruce. It's dangerous. We don't know enough about the balance of chemicals in the body yet to mess around with it. I'm not a doctor. You're not a real doctor. Even if we were, doctors don't do this Bruce."


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Sorry! I fell asleep editing it last night. This chapter mentions sexual harassment. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!

(Line Break)

"Tony." Bruce said, meeting his eyes with a firm gaze. He stayed quiet once he held his attention, giving Tony a second to catch his breath.

"What?" Tony asked, after a second of angry pause.

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life." Tony answered firmly.

"Then at least trust me with mine. If anything doesn't work, Hulk will fix it. We'll just see if we can get him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone. I think it's safer in the long run."

"Won't he just fix the chemical imbalance then?" Tony pointed out impatiently.

"I'm not sure. He still hasn't fixed my vision, so that doesn't just automatically make every problem go away. I haven't got the chance to do proper testing."

"So why would we risk using anything on you right now?"

"Tony," Bruce sighed, "I guess if you really don't want me to do this, I can't, because it's your facilities and your money, and I've already taken so much from you anyway. I'd just really appreciate it if you give me a chance."

"Bruce, you're not taking anything from me." Tony said, crossing his arms. "You know that. I have way too much shit for my own good, and you can use whatever you want, with or without permission. Well... Except my suits. But seriously, even if you just feel like climbing into my bed some night..." Tony let him voice trail off and Bruce picked up the conversation.

"Thank you. Really." Bruce said, and Tony could've kicked himself because the other man honestly looked surprised. And at the thought of being able to use his stuff too, before Tony even used the allusion to sex. "But I'd much prefer it if I did have you permission. Or if I'm really lucky, even your help."

"What if we made a deal?" Tony said, knowing his resolve was crumbling. Bruce's sad little face reminding him that he had no worldly goods and honestly cared about getting his permission really got to him.

"What sort of deal?"

"Well, you give me sex and-"

"Be serious Tony." Bruce interrupted, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. How about I help you out on the researching and testing phase and if I don't like it we don't get ourselves all the way into the human testing phase."

"Are you serious now?" Bruce asked, smiling.

"Yes, I'm serious now.

"Thank you so much!"

"But I do expect something in return." Tony said, voice serious. Bruce froze. He should've known better, known Tony wouldn't go for it, Tony wouldn't ever go for it, and now he just felt like he was being made fun of. It took Bruce a second to remember how to breath, how to wet his quickly drying mouth.

"What is it?"

"I want a hug." Tony said.

"A hug?" Bruce ventured out.

"And permission to tap your butt."

"Tony I'm pretty sure that's sexual harassment." Bruce said impatiently.

"Oh come on Bruce." Tony mock-whined. "All I want is to be able to do is get a good hug and a feel of your butt. Don't I deserve that at least?"

"No, part of stopping sexual harassment is to teach you not to feel so entitled to other people's bodies."

"Fine." Tony said with a play sigh, crossing his arms. "That seems like a fair point. So let's say it's just one thing. You chose. I get a hug or I get to touch your butt. Deal?"

"Deal. And hug." Bruce agreed softly. He had never expected this to go this way, but it seemed to be his only option.

"Okay, come on then." Tony said, holding out his arms towards Bruce. He could see the man looked apprehensive and waited for Bruce to come to him. Bruce took a step forward and leaned in, wrapping his arms loosely around Tony. Tony hugged him tightly, wanting to feel Bruce's body pressed against him, as much of him as possible without moving his hands or doing anything else to make Bruce uncomfortable.

Again, Bruce's heart rate skyrocketed. Something about being near Tony made his heart pound and his head hurt. He pulled back and forced his face to remain stoic so Tony wouldn't ask him what as making Hulk act up. Tony reluctantly let go.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Tony asked.

"No." Bruce said, but at the same time he was trying to rhythmically clench and unclench his muscles, a quieter way of calming himself down, and push Hulk back in the recesses of his mind.

"Human contact is good for you Bruce. And no one's going to hurt you here. Remember that. Also, you still smell amazing."


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: A few things. One, this chapter has mentions of slight overdosing on pills. Two, we are starting to get into discussions of transgenders, not from male to female or vice versa, but from Omega to... Well you'll see. This isn't as prevelant in this chapter but will be coming up soon. To be honest I didn't even realize this till today. I'm just telling you this so that you can be aware of a more serious topic discussed, especially in upcoming chapters. Three, Ometra totally isn't a word. Just thing of it as an Omega equivalent of Estrogen or Testosterone. A male Omega would have Ometra and Testosterone. Four, I am no biologist. While I've partly decided to relate Ometra to Testosterone and Estrogen I'm also making this up along because I'm not a scientist, I'm a writer. So please forgive anything that seems outlandish, and feel free to warn me or give suggestions. Five, I'm a senior and I have prom tomorrow. So, there may or may not be a chapter, depending on how the day goes. Wow that was more than a few things. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

(Line Break)

Cleanliness

Organization

Submissive Instincts

Aggression

Stress

Truthfulness

Relationships

Bone Growth

Development of Sexual Organs

Hair Loss

Temperature Regulation

Sexuality

Heat

Sex Drive

Sexual Pleasure

Child-Birthing

Bonding

The next day Bruce and Tony were in the lab, making a list of all the things Ometra was said to affect. Tony was getting more and more agitated. The problem was, science had done little more than said things were related because no information had been taken on people without Ometra- they simply weren't present in society. Everyone, of any gender, was born with at least some level of the chemical, and there was no reason to remove it. Castration could be done physically or with surgery if needed. To go as far as removing a chemical completely simply didn't seem safe. Tony didn't know how he could let Bruce risk himself like that.

"Can't we just snip your cords?" Tony asked, staring at their ever-increasing list.

"Hulk would wake up during surgery. And I'd still have heats."

"But they wouldn't be as intense."

"That doesn't change the fact that Hulk would show up."

"Your body will make more."

"I've thought of that Tony. We're going to teach my body not to make more."

"Bruce people don't-"

"We're the leaders of impossible, aren't we? Besides I'm not saying we have to remove all my Ometra, just limit it severely. Since I'm out of puberty it shouldn't be a problem."

"You're taking suppressants, isn't that enough?"

"Omegas are suppose to have at least one heat a year to stay healthy. And even with suppressants Omegas have a mild heat. Most just bare through it quietly so you Alphas

won't try to take advantage of it. Guess how much I'm overdosing. Besides it's not just about heat."

"Then what is it about Bruce?" Tony asked, crossing his arms.

"Look, you promised you'd at least consider this if we could find a safe way to do it. So far all I'm seeing as that I'll become even more of a messy lying dick than I already am. That's not a big deal, and it's possible it may even reduce my stress, so let's keep going." Bruce said. He didn't want to explain because he knew it was petty and he didn't think Tony would understand. He didn't like all the questions. The "what are you exactly?". The "why do you smell so funny?". That even people who didn't know his big secret could tell something was wrong with him just by scent. He didn't like the need he felt to listen to Alphas- though he secretly knew he would listen either way. He didn't like the fact that the smell of an Alpha was enough to raise his heart rate a bit. He didn't like feeling that sometimes he was just too horny to care about putting people in danger. He liked the idea of knowing he could never bond with anyone, that even if he really liked someone there was no way he could become weak and let himself make that mistake. He liked the idea that if he was stupid enough to try something sexual, to put people in danger, he wouldn't even enjoy it. He liked that he would have another excuse to never consider a relationship. He liked that Tony would at least know where he stood when it came to sex and dating. He liked the fact that if somehow he was bonded to Hulk- and the whole thought disgusted and terrified him- all effects of that would go away.

"You don't have any other reason really." Tony said teasingly. Bruce was trying to come up with a biting comeback when JARVIS chimed in, saving him.

"Fuck Goal, you have a message." Bruce slammed a hand over his face. For a moment he wanted to snap at Tony to change it. But how could he do that? The man was giving him a house, a lab, and now helping him do something much against his will. He hadn't earned the right to complain.

"Bruce, do you know why your name is Fuck Goal?" Tony asked, his lips barely turning up at the corners. Bruce realized he had never truly considered it, but an answer came fairly quickly.

"Because you knew it would make me uncomfortable, and you're constantly trying to hook me up with people."

"Right. That's the reason." Tony said and his voice was dripping with so much sarcasm Bruce was sure it was creating an invisible pool on the floor. And hell if he wasn't giving Tony what he wanted and blushing.

"Fuck Goal would you like to hear your message?"

"JARVIS, change Fuck Goal to Big Green Killing Machine. If you wish you can call him BGKM for short." Tony thought maybe he was doing Bruce a favor, pulling back a little bit. He didn't notice Bruce's jaw clenching, his thought that he honestly like Fuck Goal better.

"Yes sir." JARVIS chimed.

"Who's the message from JARVIS?" Bruce asked.

"Captain Steve Rogers BGKM." JARVIS answered.

"Uhm, mind if I take this not in front of you?" Bruce asked. Tony wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, but let Bruce walked out towards his room.


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: Thanks for all the follows and favorites! There seems to have been a spike in them recently. Anyway uhm I sort of suddenly changed where I wanted this to go? Not completely but I'm just sort of adding more to it and it keeps getting longer and longer and now I have no idea when this will end. So I hope you're happy to know this will go quite awhile longer. And I may or may not already have a sequel in mind. Oops. The first paragraph of this has some allusions to torture and abuse. If you skip over it you won't really miss out. Also Bruce's crazy awkwardness is fun. Hope you enjoy! (I'm going to try a real line break let's see if this works).

* * *

Bruce walked off to his room, trying to calm down. He shouldn't be angry. Tony wasn't trying to be mean. Why was he always angry at him? And why was Tony always making him angry? Sometimes Bruce tried to tell himself that Hulk affected that, just like he did his dreams, but he never really believed it. It was just another mental lie he told himself because maybe if he didn't think he was a killer he would stop killing. But he was pretty sure he had always been angry, always been wishing for violence even when he had performance issues. Because he always felt out of control. He had never understood, and even when his head did, the rest of him didn't seem to. That women, the one with the hand on his arm, was a friend. Maybe even more. It was a pen he was being hit with, not a syringe travelling steadily towards his arm, trying to steal even the blood out of him. There was nothing to be scared of here. And yet every time he was touched he expected it to be a slap. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he couldn't cry, couldn't hide, so the best he could do was get angry. Anger was protection. Anger was strength. Anger was maturity and anger was bravery and now anger was all he knew. And he wished to all the gods he didn't believe in that he could fix it.

Bruce tried to not think this way before listening to Steve's message. If it was anything unhappy he didn't want to just compound his stress. So he took a deep breath and thought of his mother and forced himself to calm. Forced himself to press down all feelings till there was barely a hint of life left in him. Then he whispered, "Play the message please JARVIS."

"Certainly BGKM." He said, then there was a little click and Steve's voice filled the room.

"Hello Bruce. I'm sorry to disturb you, but it seems a high number of people on this mission are acting strange, we believe some not of their own volition. I can't go into details obviously, as this is classified but I was wondering if I could run a couple of numbers by you and you could tell me if they seemed legitimate and whether or not they're something to worry about. That's all. Sorry to bother you. Bye." There was another click and the voice disappeared. Bruce thought it was a rather cryptic message, but he knew Steve wouldn't call him unless there was a real concern and he thought he could really help. Bruce tried not to let worry eat away at his stomach at the thought of Steve being somewhere dangerous. Most of the Avengers were always in some sort of danger, he didn't understand why this was bothering him anymore than normal. It was probably nothing after all. Steve just wanted to get a couple of numbers checked.

"JARVIS can you call that number back please?"

"Yes BGKM." JARVIS said, and soon the sound of a ringing phone filled the room. It rang once, twice... three, four, five, six times before a voice finally came on the other end.

"Hello?" Steve asked. It was at that exact moment Bruce remembered how much he hated talking on the phone.

"Uh... Hey... Uhm.. Captain Rogers... I.." He groaned. What exactly was he doing again? Why had he called Captain Rogers? Steve always yelled at him for that. "Sorry." Bruce mumbled. "Sorry."

"Bruce?" Steve asked, his confusion evident in his voice.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah that's... Yeah I'm Bruce." Bruce leaned his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what to do with his other hand since he didn't have to hold the phone. He began pacing.

"Oh. Well thank you for returning my call. And surely by now you know there's no need to call me Captain Rogers Bruce. I am your teammate and your equal. There's no ranks here."

"Right. Right. Can we just get on with the number please?" Bruce heard his voice come out horribly short and impatient and almost kicked the wall before he caught himself and remembered pain would only bring bigger problems. And there was that ever increasing anger again. Willing to get hurt in the process as long as some sort of pain was caused. Steve paused for a rather pregnant second and Bruce was quite certain the other man was going to hate him forever, and maybe even start screaming right then.

Instead, a soft voice said. "Oh certainly Doctor Banner. I have it right that you specialize in radiation?" And just like that he was Doctor Banner. Bruce almost wished that he had berated him.

"Yes, I uh... I definitely specialize in radiation. It's a very personal subject to me in fact. I hold it very close to me heart, or my consciousness rather." Bruce wasn't sure if he was rambling or telling a joke or maybe even a bit of both, so he forced a pitiful sounding laugh that got stuck as it bubbled up out of his lips. "So, uh, why don't you just go ahead and tell me then?" Bruce forced himself to be quiet, to actually listen. He only had to hear Steve read off a couple words before he said. "Steve, if those numbers are right, you have to evacuate. Now."

* * *

A/N: Please tell me what you think? I live for your comments. (Or at the very least write for them. And I live to write.)


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: Sorry this is late. Internet struggles so I'm rushing to post this during school.

(Line Break)

Suddenly, everything was happening all at once. Steve was on the phone with Fury then Fury was on the phone was Bruce and whole villages were being evacuated and Clint and Tony were getting ready to move with him. Bruce promised that if those numbers were real, they hadn't come by an sort of accident. In fact, if they were evacuating, they might just want to take everyone straight to a hospital. Fury had laughed at that. Bruce didn't understand why and he didn't ask Fury to explain. Instead, he started packing. Tony came in as he was throwing a couple changes of clothes in a backpack.

"So, Bruce saves the day again." Tony smirked as he slid into the room, and found a spot to lean against the wall.

"Not really. Everyone's still in danger. I never saved people a first time. And you could've done it. Doesn't take a radiation specialist to figure it out. Shouldn't you be packing?"

"I have trunks ready for cases such as these. The suit's on my wrists. I just wanted to see if there was any equipment you needed packed."

"They have a lab there, don't they?"

"Mhm, but if they have some rogue agent running it will everything be calibrated right and in working order? Will it even be there by the time we're there?" Bruce didn't like how pleased Tony looked with the whole situation.

"I trust you to pick out what we need Tony."

"So you trust me with other people's lives?" Tony asked, the edges of his lips curling upward. Bruce paused uncertainly. What was he suppose to say to that? It depended on the scenario. Was he doing lab work or surgery? How many people were they talking? Was someone else more qualified there?

Bruce's thoughts were racing, but all that came out of his mouth was, "Yeah, I think I do." Tony let out a little chuckle.

"Remember that later."

(Line Break)

The jet ride over was awkward. There were a few agents coming over with them, and Bruce didn't like visibly fighting terror in front of- well really anyone, but especially- people who didn't trust his control. He knew in general the Avengers trusted him more than he thought they should. It was nice when people didn't jump out of their skin every time he moved he supposed, but a healthy dose of fear might not be horrible either. Now though, he had almost forgotten how some people looked at him. And he didn't want to make them any more nervous than some of them already looked. He allowed himself to close his eyes and do breathing exercises during take-off, because literally having Hulk show up would be much worse than people worrying about Hulk showing up. Then he opened his eyes and shuffled a little closer to Tony. It made him feel a bit better, but somewhere in the pit of his stomach he wished Steve was there.

One of the agents was walking around, whispering to each of the Avengers in turn, having them sign things. Clint didn't say much, just scratch his signature across the magazine article. Tony however, was as loud as always.

"I'm your favorite Avenger right? I'm everyone's favorite Avenger."

"Uh, no." Said the agent, his grey eyes sparkling as he tried not to laugh.

"Oh really? Who is then?"

"Dr. Banner." The agent said, turning to smile at him. For a moment Bruce's heart stopped. He shouldn't be anyone's favorite. The man must have been talking about something else, must have been pointing out that he was the next in line of signatures or that he felt uncomfortable close to him or something else. He saw on the TV and internet that people liked him, that he had fans, but he figured it was only a couple and he would never actually meet them. He tried to ignore fans at all cost in general because what happened when he disappointed them? What happened when they went to shake hands with a hero and looked in the eyes of a cold-bloodied killer. No one should admire him, no one should want to be like him, it was just as bad as the cult following of a serial killer. Suddenly Bruce realized he was panicking. There was a man staring at him, smiling, a good man waiting for a handshake and a signature and he was sitting here panicking. He took a deep breath and then he was shaking and his head hurt.

"Everybody back." Bruce said, and Tony swore.

"He's kidding. He's fucking kidding. It's just a line he used to say."


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: This chapter talks a bit about sexual harassment, though in a different form than this world. I promise action soon! (By that I mean tomorrow. I had an awards ceremony tonight for senior year. This was kind of thrown together fast. But I got a violin award!) Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Please tell me what you think!

(Line Break)

Bruce looked wide eyed at Tony and took a deep shaky breath. Tony leaned in and whispered half-sarcastically, "You are not going to sit here and panic because someone likes you. Now you calm the fuck down or Thor help me I will turn this plane around."

Bruce found laughter bubbling up in his throat, and was amazed when the pressure in his chest lifted. He found himself almost instantly breathing easier. "Yeah, yeah it's a joke." Bruce said, relief spreading throughout his body.

"Oh okay. Well it's a big honor to meet you." The agent stuck out his hand and Bruce shook it, though with some hesitation. "Would you mind signing something else as well? For you separately?"

"I don't normally do signatures." Bruce said uncomfortably. He was trying to fade into the distance, out of the public eye. Pretending to be famous would only do the opposite.

"But this is a special occasion, isn't it Bruce?" Tony asked, "We're thousands of feet in the air and-"

"I'll sign whatever you want me to sign." Bruce said quickly, not giving Tony a chance to continue. Tony apparently knew the place to hit him was the nerves.

"Thank you." The agent said, beaming. "I'm Agent Williams by the way." He pushed the magazine photo towards Bruce and pointed at a spot, handing him a pen.

"Bruce Banner." Bruce responded, scribbling down the name.

"Oh I know that. Robert Bruce Banner, classic doctor scrawl, goes by his middle name because that's what his mother called him. Claimed to be stronger than Thor and smarter than Tony Stark, though not at the same time. One question though. The newspapers always disagree on this, and I want to be someone who knows for sure." Agent Williams leaned in, and as his nose practically skimming his neck, took a deep breath. Bruce stiffened a bit at such an intimate gesture, and leaned away a bit, trying to give the "stop" signal without being rude. Tony stared, his eyes widening slightly. Bruce spoke before he could, deciding a verbal explanation would be smartest.

"Well it's a bit complicated. You see I'm a-"

"You don't have to explain shit to him Bruce." Tony interrupted, glaring the man down. "You know, it's one thing to take a little sniff as you're passing by but to flat out press your face against his neck without permission? That's un-fucking-called for. His sexuality is his fucking business and you can go sit the fuck back down and shut the fuck back up." Tony's voice was fast and dark, with an obvious threatening edge. Bruce stared in surprise. It wasn't he hadn't seen Tony get angry. It had happened a few times. But Tony generally defused anger with sarcastic remarks and off-hand threats. To have him jump to his defense so quickly, seriously, and severely, on a topic such as this, Bruce wasn't sure if it was applaudable or laughable. But somehow, even with the hypocrisy he was proud, saw it as a step in the right direction.

Tony knew it was wrong to be furious. Part of him noticed that him and this man, when it came right down to it, seemed to be one and the same. In the first moment of silent glaring, he tried to justify how he had acted. He knew Bruce better, Bruce would tell him if things went to far (Did he really believe that? Tony was suddenly doubting.) He always asked, or at the very least gave warning, so Bruce would have a chance to refuse. (Did he though? And even if he did, would Bruce take that chance if he wanted to?) It was different, strangers versus friends. (How so? That he was simply betraying Bruce's trust?) In the second moment Tony promised himself that he'd work on trying to improve that. In the third he decided that even if he was wrong before, Agent Williams was wrong now. In the fourth Agent Williams opened his mouth, but luckily in the fifth the pilot said, "Everyone to you seats please. We're preparing to land."

Agent Williams grabbed his magazine picture, walked back to his seat and buckled up. Tony didn't bother buckling until he saw Bruce was looking down at him pointedly. At first he was going to point out that Bruce was staring at his crotch, but then was disappointed to realize it was just the buckle. Still, he reached to grab his seatbelt and clicked it into place. Calmed, Bruce closed his eyes and practiced breathing as the plane made its descent to the ground. It went smoothly and before he knew it he heard the engines shut off, the door open, and the deep, grave voice of Steve saying, "If it's as bad as you say it is I think you better hurry Dr. Banner."


	45. Chapter 45

A/N: This chapter has discussions of suicide and possibly incorrect science information. I'm trying to do the best I can, I don't know much about Gieger Counters. Also we're almost to 50 chapters! Isn't that awesome? I'm thinking maybe about something special for the fiftieth, and I have a couple ideas but I'm not sure what yet. Maybe a one-off with this ship or even a different one, or a super long chapter, or I don't know. Any suggestions? Anyway, hope you like the chapter.

(Line Break)

Bruce nodded and tried to keep up with Steve's brisk pace. "Has anyone been showing any adverse reactions yet?"

"I don't know about civilians, but one of our own was puking all yesterday, and I haven't seen him today yet. Could just be the flu though."

"We better hope so." Bruce muttered. Steve led him to the lab. "I uh, think it's..." Steve trailed off.

"Geiger Counter's right here. I'm assuming I can touch it?" Bruce asked. His eyes darted around the lab. It wasn't Tony Stark nice, but it was more than functional. There were scientists around looking busy, all in some sort of business suit. It seemed normal enough. He wondered which one was either fudging or ignoring crazy high radiation numbers.

"Yeah, yeah of course. Go ahead and take that."

"Has it been checked recently? Normally I'd get my own base count, but I don't know where if you think this whole area could have a radiation problem."

"I.. I don't know. I'm not in the lab often. And I wouldn't trust it even if so." Steve said uncertainly. Bruce sighed.

"Let's go see if Tony brought one." He grabbed the counter anyway though and brought it with him as the walked out the door. He turned it on absentmindedly and looked it over a bit. "You know, it should be going crazy." Bruce said.

"What do you think that means?"

"Well there's a couple options. The number is wrong. The counter is crap. Or sometimes, after being exposed to a large amount of radiation the Geiger could give a false negative."

"Any way to tell which?"

"Not quickly."

"I'll call Tony then." Steve said and he pulled out his phone.

"Hey Star Spangled Undies." Tony's voice came out loud through the speakers.

"Mr. Stark this is a serious investigation and I will not deal with sarcasm at the moment. Did you bring a working Geiger Counter?"

"Who comes to a party without a Geiger Counter?"

"Don't make me take you off this team." Steve growled. "Have an agent lead you to the labs. Dr. Banner and I will be waiting outside them." Steve hung up. Bruce tried to hide his increasingly evident surprise. "It's a good thing he's a genius." Steve joked. Bruce wanted to ask if that was the same thing the team said about him behind his back. Steve noticed his silence and looked over at him, concerned.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't a nice joke. I really like Tony too. I was kidding." Steve said. Bruce just shook his head.

"I just... Nevermind."

"Come on, we're all about to die from radiation, you can't just nevermind me."

"I won't die." Bruce mumbled.

"No idea why you say it like that. Sounds like a positive to me." Steve said jokingly. Bruce let out a deep sigh, unsure if he wanted to broach on a completely different upsetting subject. Steve didn't like the silence and quickly tried to rectify himself. "I.. Uh.. I'm sorry.. Was that a uh.. Bad thing to say? I wasn't thinking." It took Bruce a second to realize Steve was referring to his known suicide attempt.

"No, no.. Look I shouldn't have told you guys that, never think about it again, okay? This is something different."

"Bruce, you can't honestly expect me never to think about it again." Steve muttered. "I mean, I hope it's not a problem for you anymore, I really do. But I don't think that's a struggle that just goes away in a day, and I don't want to make anything worse for you. I just want you to know people worry and care and all that, and uh, I don't claim to understand or anything, but I've been told I'm a fairly decent listener." Steve looked at Bruce, and Bruce looked away. Awkward silence ensued.

Tony showed up a moment later. "I turned it on as soon as we got here, false negatives should be unlikely if there's that much here."

"Only one case of sickness, at least in the agents, and it's just vomit. How many people are on this base Steve?" Bruce asked.

"A couple hundred."

"I can do more tests for smaller levels of radiation, but nothing like that number. I think it's time to go through your scientists."

"Well, I guess that's good." Steve said, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, uh, definitely better than the other option. Thanks Bruce. Didn't mean to make you all come out here for nothing."

"I'm not so sure it was for nothing." Tony said. Suddenly the Iron Man suit was molding itself over his body and swallowing him completely.


	46. Chapter 46

A/N: Im sorry there was no chapter yesterday. I had a friend come over. And this is technically a few minutes late. Oops. So this chapter has graphic violence, bad writing, and super cliché themes I think. It's a bit different than anything I've wrote so far, and very important plot-wise, so please tell me what you think!

(Line Break)

"Put the gun down." Tony said, his phaser pointing. Bruce turned to look. There was a women in a black SHIELD uniform, gun pointed right at Steve's head. "Gun down!" He screamed, but the women didn't move.

"Don't shoot." Steve said, and Bruce was surprised to note that it was aimed at Tony and not the women. "Mind control Tony, she's a good agent, don't shoot."

"Fine." Tony took a step forward and reached for the gun. The women fired, a bullet ricocheting off the suit. Tony's metal fist made connect with head and she crumpled to the ground.

"Tony!" Steve said, appalled. But he didn't have any time for a lecture. Tony fell to the ground as well, gripping his head. He began twitching in the dirt, and soon a shriek of pain could be heard over the intercom. "Bruce how do we get the suit off him?" Steve screamed, kneeling by him on the ground. For a moment Tony's body went slack, then it snapped to a rigid attention and swung a fist at Steve, which the man expertly dodged. "Fuck. Bruce, go, now!" He said. "JARVIS, suit! JARVIS take off his fucking suit!"

"Neither of you listen to him." Tony said, the laid-back sarcasm still the main feature of his voice. He punched Steve in the ribs and the man grunted.

Bruce wavered for a second but Steve screamed, "I am your commander and you will obey me!" And gave Tony a wicked punch to the chest.

"Try not to get any more metal embedded near his heart!" Bruce screamed. And he ran.

Screaming was breaking out throughout the base. Bruce ran. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, who he was trying to find, but he needed to get out of the chaos. He couldn't hulk out now, not when friends were enemies. He didn't want Hulk confused on who to hurt, and he didn't want him injuring the team.

Bruce past Natasha, on the ground, holding her head, and twitching. He past Clint and an agent in a vicious battle, Clint's teeth drawing blood from the women's arm. He kept running, trying to take deep breathes despite the feeling of his chest constantly tightening.

The next women he passed was just standing back up from her own battle with the ground. He thought she looked vaguely familiar, then remembered she was the women Tony had tried to hook up with Steve. She looked over at him and smiled, a wicked, sly smile completely different from anything he had seen at the party. She flung her whole body at him full-force and he slammed against the ground. His head began pounding, a hideous scream bursting through his teeth. He couldn't let it happen, not here, not now. He forced the scream to be from pain, to make himself really feel it. He sucked in a deep breath and she kicked him in the ribs. For a moment everything went green, but then he refused, simply refused to let it happen because he was not going to let him out; he wasn't Hulk he was Bruce and he could keep Hulk out. He just had to breath.

An elbow came in sharp contact with his nose. He felt his legs bulge and forced himself to breath through his mouth, will his legs to shrink. Something jabbed his throating and he was choking; how was he suppose to keep his heart rate down when he was choking? He thought of working with chemicals with Tony and teaching Steve and proving to Natasha he was a good man and repaying Clint for helping him in the cave and he didn't understand how he could be uncaring enough to let this happen. His muscles began bulging and the hand was forced to leave his neck and he took a deep breath and soon he was shrinking again and back in control.

"For Fucks sake." He heard a deep voice say, and then the body against him was ripped away and landed off to the side with a thump. He tried to breath, tried to fight and for a moment his eyelids fluttered open and he saw Fury standing over him.

"Why are you trying to hold him back?" Fury asked, his hands filled with something hard and silver. "Let him out."

Bruce forced his body to be his own, forced himself to speak. "No." He heard a heavy click, saw something come racing out of the silver, felt a sharp pain right between his eyes, and then only green.

(Line Break)

Thoughts? Beliefs? Values? Souls for Satan?


	47. Chapter 47

A/N: Yes this is late I'm sorry! Fell asleep writing again. This chapter has mentions of blood and injury. Hope you enjoy! Please tell me what you think.

(Line Break)

Fury, hitting the ground so hard he heard a snap, and he loved the sound, and added a scream in with it.

Green.

Blood on his face, in his mouth, laughter.

Green.

"Hulk is the strongest one there is!" A foot, resting on an unmoving body.

Green.

Bullets, and a sharp pain, right in the chest. The feeling of choking.

Green

Seeing a "dead" body crawling away, and lunging back at with laughter.

Tony suddenly came to himself while passed out on the ground. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Steve sprawled on top of him, through his suits battered visuals. "Kinky." He muttered aloud, and Steve stirred a bit. He tried to remember how drunk he was the night before. The only thing he could vaguely call was a fight between him and Steve, one that had truly become all out war. He would've thought it was just a dream if not for the amazing similarity to his current surroundings.

"Wakey wake eggs and bakey." He muttered, shoving Steve off him. The other man groaned. Tony was amazed at just how sore he felt, even through the suit, and cursed himself inwardly for apparently not flying enough. Being well in the air always helped dodge, and he seemed to have done a shitty job of that.

Steve pushed himself up to his hands and knees and looked around, his first thought being to assess the damage, though he wasn't quite sure of the situation. He saw Tony, his suit a bit crumpled, and in places even ripped off, laying next to him. In the distance he saw a girl he recognized vaguely, laying in a pool of what he could only assume was have own blood. He took a deep breath and heaved himself up. He wobbled a bit on his sore, unsteady legs and was shot back to memories of Tony hitting him with crazed metal fists. He jumped away, trying to avoid the poorly aimed punches, before realizing it was no longer a threat anymore. Tony raised his eyebrows at him and tried to get up himself. He was able to, but one of his legs refused to stretch out. "JARVIS." He mumbled. "Get this off me." He could tell his outside speaker wasn't working, but was relieved when JARVIS answered.

"Certainly sir. Where would you like it ?"

"It won't make it home, will it? Back to my wrists will be fine." It wasn't able to fold up completely, and Tony had to rip off a few parts to get it to go, but after a bit of adjusting he got most of the suit to rest comfortably. He'd really have to figure out a better way to manage after-battle clean-up. He looked up at Steve. "You going to go ape-shit on me again?" He asked.

"I'm pretty sure you attacked me first." Steve responded.

"And better." Tony said, smiling. "Fun wasn't it? I think we should wake up like that more often. My turn to top next."

"Tony this is serious." Steve snapped. He turned and jogged towards the girl he could see in the distance. Tony followed wordlessly. Now there was a figure kneeling next to her and soon Steve could see it was Clint.

"I think... I.." His mouth moved wordlessly for a moment. Steve put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault soldier. Now let's go try to find things we can fix instead." Steve said softly. Clint nodded with a sigh, and jumped up. He shoes squelched with blood that had stopped pouring from her neck. They kept walking. Natasha came running up to them from behind.

"Was everyone on base mind controlled?"

"We can't be sure about absolutely everyone yet, but we think so." Steve answered solemnly.

"I don't think so." Tony said brightly. Everyone made a face at the out of place happiness.

"Why not?"

"Bruce can't be mind controlled. It's a Hulk thing." Tony said, but then the whole group was stopping.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked. Fury was laying on the ground, carefully holding an arm into place that was bent in two spots, his face white. His head was bleeding and when he tried to slide away he had to let go of his arm to pull one of his legs. Hulk was standing a couple feet away, roaring in rage, and soon everyone was getting ready for battle once more.


	48. Chapter 48

A/N: First off, in the last chapter, the beginning started with fragmented fighting scenes with intermingled green. Anyone remember that? That was BRUCE seeing that not Hulk. I was going to clarify that in last chapter's A/N in case it wasn't obvious but I totally forgot. My bad. So Hulk still remembers all of the fight normally. That part was Bruce just to a) remind you he's still in there b) understand how confusing this all would be for him on waking and c) summarize a necessary but largely unimportant fight scene. So, for Hulk the fight was normal. For Bruce it was scary and fragmented, which is also normal.

Today's chapter includes a lot of major plot points and then a couple of moments I'm interested to see your reaction to. Please tell me what you think and what you think Bruce would think. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

(Line Break)

"Hulk stop!" Steve screamed, running up in front of him to command his attention. Natasha ran to Fury and knelt in front of him.

"Are you okay? Clint, go find a doctor!" She screamed. Clint ran off. He knew he was sent because everyone was afraid Hulk would snap him in two. He was only a guy with a bow, nothing important to the group. At least he could go on a wild goose chase to find someone else who might actually be useful.

"I'll be fine. Get him to fucking stop." Fury said. His mind was still reeling with confusion. After he shot Bruce Hulk came and had throw him against the ground. Though he landed on his arm, he had felt this horrible pain in his head too for a moment, and he had screamed. Hulk seemed to mistake his falling for death and moved on to another agent, but when he moved Hulk came back for him. And that time it had been different. Fury envisioned hurting Hulk, ripping him to shreds. Even in his already hurt state he had tried to fight, as if somehow he had a chance against Hulk. It didn't make sense. And that was all he remembered. The gunshot and the fall, bits and pieces of the fight, and waking up now. He supposed since he shot Bruce he couldn't be upset with a bit of collateral damage, and he still didn't regret it.

"Real Flag?" Hulk asked uncertainly, picking up Steve and squinting to try to discern if he was acting normally again.

"Yes Hulk. Everyone's back now. No need to keep fighting."

"Eyepatch hurt Bruce. Hulk hurt eyepatch." Hulk said, throwing Steve to the side and preparing to lung at Fury. Tony jumped in front of him.

"Woah, Hulk, calm down. You know what mind control is right? Eyepatch was mind controlled when he hurt Bruce."

"Tony knows my fucking name." Fury muttered.

"No." Hulk growled. "Before."

"Well I'm not letting you hurt him." Tony crossed his arms.

"No Metal. You wimpy stupid man without metal." Hulk said. He picked him up and put him to the side. Tony ran back, right in front of Fury.

"I may be a wimpy man, but I am /not/ stupid and I will not let you hurt Fury."

"Stupid because you're not safe without metal!"

"No one would want to hurt this face, would they? And you have to get to Fury."

"You're a bad friend for puny Bruce." Hulk spat at him. Tony sighed and walked over to Hulk.

"Hey, big guy, listen." He pat Hulk's leg. "I don't want anything bad to happen to puny Bruce, ever. But sometimes you and him remember things a bit differently, so before I hurt another one of my friends, I want to know if Bruce thinks I should. If you let me talk to him, and he thinks so, then I will. Sound good?" Tony asked. Hulk reached down and picked him up at the waist, so Tony wouldn't be looking up at him, but at face level. Tony couldn't help letting out a little yelp of surprise.

"Hurt Eyepatch either way. Puny Bruce too nice. Bad. Eyepatch deserves to get hurt." Then, he brought Tony a bit closer, smashed Tony's lips against his own, and set him back down.

If Tony couldn't look around and see the groups shocked faces, he's not sure he would believe it had really happened. It was all so fast. The swoop up, the few words of advice, the kiss, the being set back down, it couldn't have been more than thirty seconds. But everyone's faces said it was real. Tony was a strong proponent in the Hulk and Bruce being different people theory, when it fit whatever he was trying to sell that day. So maybe he still wasn't reaching Bruce, but if his words were getting stuck in the back of Bruce's mind and reaching Hulk down in the recesses of his subconscious, well Tony certainly wasn't going to complain. He'd seen the size of that cock and ass, and even if parts of his body were a bit small, he figured his mouth could do okay if Hulk could learn to be a little gentle. Not too gentle though. And he supposed it was nice Hulk liked certain people enough to feel comfortable enough to kiss them. That had to prove to Bruce he wasn't just a murderer.

Steve did not feel as great about the situation, especially since he was not the one being kissed. He figured if Hulk kissed Tony that meant some part of Bruce, somewhere, wanted to do the same. And pretty much by definition, would never even consider kissing him. Besides, he knew Bruce was a worry wart and wouldn't take anything like that lightly without at least some serious thought first. Hopefully thought that led to him realizing he kissed the wrong person to begin with.

Hulk didn't think much of it. He saw Tony; he realized he was gorgeous without his suit; he wanted to press his lips to Tony; he did it. Whatever consequences that came could be dealt with later. When he looked over and the ever-beautiful super solider was struggling to his even muscular feet, well he decided the first kiss was fairly nice and he'd just have to swoop up him as well and go for another.


	49. Chapter 49

A/N: This chapter has non-graphic mentions of rape. Also it's pretty long which is a plus I think. This is my official warning that there may not be a chapter tomorrow, in fact you might not want to take chapters for granted at all for the next week-ish, I'll try to post them as many days as possible BUT I'm a graduating senior and these next like two weeks I have my last day of school, graduation, grad night, my open house, you know, all that shit. So if I miss a lot more than normal, I don't hate you guys. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Please please tell me what you think. This is another big chapter plot-wise and I want to know if you like where this is going.

(Line Break)

Steve flailed for a moment till he was put down, completely unsure of how to react. Tony laughed aloud. Hulk smiled for a moment, but while Steve was calming down so was he. He fell to the ground, and held his head. "No! No puny Bruce!" Hulk screamed. Steve frowned and walked up, patting Hulk's arm.

"It's okay Hulk. You'll be back soon. Let puny Bruce come. We'll see you again in not too long." Hulk groaned in response, and his body shook until a small, sweaty body collapsed out of it. Clint came back with a doctor, who began assessing Fury, but Nat just stepped away and closer to Bruce, everyone interested in seeing how he would react. Clint knew he missed something and swore, joining the half circle surrounding the fallen man. Soon Bruce's eyes fluttered open and he gasped, expecting a gun to be in his face. His pupils were blown wide and his breaths were short and fast. He was shaking once more.

"Woah buddy, it's okay. Everything's okay." Tony said and Bruce realized what happened and let out a long, tired sigh of relief.

"What did I miss?"

"Well let's see. Mind control stopped for no apparent reason, you were beating the shit out of Fury, who Hulk said hurt you on purpose, he didn't want to turn back into you, and oh, yeah, he kissed me. And then he kissed Steve. So there's definitely that." Tony shrugged.

"That is the last time I am ever going to be the one to get the doctor." Clint swore.

"Yeah, how was that kissing thing? He decent?" Natasha asked the men teasingly.

"Not great, considering the size of his mouth, but not particularly bad either. Maybe a four out of ten. I've had worse." Tony answered.

"Agreed. Except I've never had worse." Steve responded. He didn't really agree. To him, the kiss was... well more than just a kiss. It meant that maybe Bruce had some sort of interest in him, that maybe he wanted to kiss him and he liked him just as much as Tony and Steve had a chance he didn't even realize he wanted. But, he couldn't say all that, so 'agreed' was much simpler.

"That's just because you're a kissing virgin." Tony retorted.

"I am not a kissing virgin!"

"Aha! So you're a real virgin then!" Tony wiggled his eyebrows at him. "I can fix that."

"I didn't-"

"Wait, you both kissed Hulk?" Bruce asked.

"A little slow on the uptake, aren't you buddy?" Tony asked. "Technically Hulk kissed us."

"Fuck you." Bruce said plainly, and he got up, trying to hold his torn pants over his more private areas still.

"Well, if that's what you want-" Tony started, but Steve shot him a look.

"Tony don't. Look Bruce, if it was a problem, we're sorry, we didn't know, and we'll try not to repeat it. Just tell us what we did wrong and what you'd suggest we do next time." Steve's voice was calm and rational and soothing and something in Bruce angrily and irrationally and stirringly hated it. How could Steve be so calm, so logical, so perfect, when Bruce's world was falling apart? How could not even his hero realize when something was wrong?

"Hulk's not suppose to think like that." Bruce stressed. "I mean, what if he decides he likes stuff like that?" He asked, blood rushing to his cheeks. He didn't like talking about sex, and especially not in front of his whole team.

"Stuff like what? Kissing? And why would that be a problem? Hasn't he liked someone before?" Steve asked, sounding both patient and curious.

"But not as dumb Hulk. There's been different Hulk's and dumb Hulk has never done this shit before. And everything like that escalates. Today he wants kissing, tomorrow he'll want sex three times a week."

"I could help him out." Tony said, and Steve started to give him another Look, but he quickly shook his head. "No I'm serious, if you and Hulk are cool with it I'm totally willing to do whatever I'm physically able to do with him sexually."

"And what when he wants more? What when you're not there? I'm already a murderer; I don't want to be a fucking rapist too."

"That's quite the escalation Bruce." Steve pointed out softly.

"But it's not unthinkable."

"He's not like that Bruce." Tony defended quickly. "He's a cool guy. I mean, sure, sometimes people are just collateral damage to him, and maybe he's hurt civilians before when he felt threatened, but he's getting better and he's not going to become some rapist. You should trust him more. You should let him be happy. He deserves it." Tony said. And there was so much Bruce wanted to say.

He wanted to ask where his happiness was. Why the monster got more kissing today than he had in fifteen years. What he had done to deserve that his best friend turned worst enemy got to kiss the guys that- well whatever Tony and Steve fucking were- and he didn't. He wanted to point out that no one knew Hulk like he did. No one else had their mind constantly raped by some monster with an anger problem that was really just themselves anyway. And if there even was the slimmest chance that Hulk might become a rapist he needed to consider that and worry about it and fix it somehow because in the end, in the middle of the night, he'd be the rapist and he'd be the one not able to sleep like that. That was his only job on the team anyway. Keeping Hulk from ruining things. And didn't they know Fury shot him? That he was trying to do his one job on the team and Fury shot him rather than let him do it? If they loved Hulk so much why didn't they believe him? Didn't they care that they were working for a man who ruled his life so completely he was even willing to forcibly remove his body and consciousness from him? Or would they have done the same thing in his situation, because it was all about Hulk anyway, never about himself?

Bruce wanted to say all these things and a million more but he couldn't because he needed to do his job and stay calm and get Hulk under control. So he decided to do his job the best way he could. "I'm going to go try to find some clothes." He said nonchalantly, aware that everyone was staring at him. He walked to a random building and began rummaging through till he found pants and a shirt to steal. Then he ran.


	50. Chapter 50

A/N: Sorry it's been so long! Things have been really crazy lately! I promise I'll try to not make this take as long again. Also 50 CHAPTERS! ISN'T THAT AWESOME? I think as a sort of reward to myself I'm going to be uploading some of my drabbles from one of my old tumblrs so if anyone's interested there will be a bunch of drabbles uploaded from a couple different fandoms in the next couple of days.

* * *

"Where the fuck is Bruce?" Fury asked. They were having an impromptu debriefing around his bed.

"No one's seen him." Steve said, worry filling his voice and overflowing into his tapping fingers.

"He's fine." Tony said. "No one's really looked for him anyway."

"I did." Steve answered.

"It's a big place." Tony answered nonchalantly. He told the part of his mind that said Bruce always ran away the same thing. Bruce had been happy with him. He had done a good job in providing for him. He must have.

"Well, you can find him after if he's not off in some new third world already. Let's focus on more important things for now. Ideas on what happened?"

"Isn't it Bruce important?" Steve asked.

"He's allowed to leave any time he wishes."

"What if he didn't just leave?" Steve pressed forward.

"Captain Steve I am director. We will finish this debriefing and then find Bruce. We need to decide what we're up against." Fury said, crossing his arms. The team exchanged looks but didn't move.

"Multiple people mind control." Natasha answered slowly after a moment.

"We don't know anyone that can take over that many minds at once." Fury answered.

"What else makes sense?" Tony said sarcastically.

"Okay. Fine. Let's say it is mind control. Who did it?"

"For this amount of people they should at least have to be close. Maybe it's an inside job." Steve said.

"If they have mind control they should have any problem getting in." Clint pointed out.

"Do you guys know fucking anything that gets us any closer to finding out who he is?" Fury growled. No one said a word for a couple minutes. Tony stood.

"I'm going to go find Bruce." He turned and left. Clint followed him, then Natasha.

"You okay on your own sir?" Steve asked, glancing towards the door.

"There's doctors here Rogers. Go ahead, but you're not going to find him."

"What would you suggest then sir?" Steve asked, chewing on his lip.

"Give up. Let him go. If we need him again we can round him up."

"I don't think it's considered letting him go if we force him to come back sir." Steve said, sighing.

"Greater good Rogers. Focus on the greater good." Fury answered. Steve wanted to complain, to point out that Bruce was a person and if they were suppose to be heroes shouldn't they protect him at all costs? But at that moment, Steve didn't feel very heroic at all.

* * *

Bruce had no idea what he was. He thought Fury might've mentioned it but he wasn't sure. Africa maybe? South America? Both choices left a number of languages he didn't know. They were suppose to be among native tribes, correct? That left even more options, but maybe they'd have roots in languages he recognized. He found a road going out of the camp and began walking down it. He realized if they did start to look for him this would be the most obvious place to look. He took a few steps off the road and began walking in the woods next to it; close enough to see it out of the corner of his eye, far enough he could duck and not be seen.

He told himself this was for the best; he told himself he didn't have any other option. Then he started to walk.

* * *

"Here's the deal." Tony said, looking over them all. "I hope he's here but let's pretend he's not. We need to catch him before he gets far. Nat and Clint, you probably have the best eyes. You go out on the road and begin looking. Be quiet and fast. I don't think he'd be stupid enough to go far into the woods without supplies. Steve and I will look around here, and if we don't find him here I will search the surrounding area with JARVIS for heat signatures, if I can get the suit to run. Everyone understand?" He asked. They all nodded. "And if we can't find him that way we'll have to take turns hurling insults through the loudspeakers. Big green monster will be a lot easier to find." Everyone knew the last line was suppose to lighten the mood, but no one really thought it worked.

Steve was surprised to see Tony taking charge in such a professional and to the point manner, but in a way sort of proud. It proved that when something was important to Tony he was willing to work really hard for it. For a moment Steve wondered if Tony would do the same thing for him, but then pushed it away, deciding that was a pretty selfish thought. Bruce was the one who obviously needed someone to care for him at the moment.


	51. Chapter 51

A/N: Guess who graduated last night! Sorry this is late but I've been crazy busy. Hope you like chapter!

(Line Break)

"Let's split up." Tony said. "There's no point in staying together. Even if there's another bout of mind control we're only a danger to each other."

"But at least we won't kill each other." Steve pointed out.

"I'm about done fighting a super solider for a day." Tony said, patting Steve's shoulder and walking away. He weaved into a building. He walked into a relatively small room, with computers along the walls and screens climbed up them. There were a few people wandering around aimlessly, looking like they were in various stages of dazed and confused. Tony wondered if he had the same tinge of zombie in him. For a moment the strange thought that he would eat Bruce just to be closer to him flashed through his mind, and he laughed at the strangeness of it. He wondered if he was going delirious. He walked out of the room and to a hallway with a split in it. He looked down the hallway. On one side he saw Steve, walking in the direction towards him. On the other was the beginning of a hallway, that turned to the left to a mythical unforeseen land where wild Bruce's were claimed to run free. Tony glanced from from one side to the other and quickly walked back into the computer room.

(Line Break)

"Bruce." Steve said, looking around as he walked in, calling out tentatively. He knew that even if Bruce was out there, he probably couldn't hear him. He was in some sort of laboratory. Water was spraying from a broken paper, arching a bit before splattering on the black desk and rolling and dripping down the edges. Papers were strewn across the floor. Steve suddenly had the intense, irrational feeling of being the only one left in the world.

"Bruce." It was a mumble. There was no Bruce to hear anyway. Bruce was long gone and he had left Steve all alone. Steve ran a hand over his face and took a few steps further into the room. He was already to a door. He pulled it open, slowly and silently because the door was new and perfect in the midst of the chaos. One side of him was a wall, but when turned there was a long narrow hallway. He felt so entirely alone that he didn't care who he saw as he walked. Tony came in the distance and he tried to walk faster, get near him. If Bruce wasn't here he at least wanted to make sure Tony was. But he took a few steps closer and Tony bolted back into the room like a scared deer. Steve sighed and continued walking forward. "Bruce." He muttered again.

(Line Break)

"Do you think he's gone?" Clint asked, looking at Natasha with only slight widened eyes, but enough for the well trained spy to notice. She didn't think he would be particularly afraid but he could be surprised. Maybe worried. It was interesting. In Russia Nat learned fear. When she first moved to America she learned worry. Lately, Nat thought she had learned to tell the difference.

"I don't know Clint."

"I didn't ask what you knew, I ask what you thought." Clint said, turning to look at her. He could always call her on that sort of bullshit. Nat always at least had an opinion; whether it was right or wrong was a different matter entirely.

"I think he's far enough ahead and smart enough not to get caught by us." She said.

"He always runs, doesn't he?"

"He always comes up with different reasons to leave human society." Natasha pointed out. "It's to the point now that I don't think he can blame Hulk for why he always runs away."

Bruce almost used those words as an excuse to stand up, to walk back to with Nat and Clint and get back on the plane and live back to the Avengers tower and go back to his old life of pretending like he was happy, pretending like he was safe.

But he knew he couldn't though. That would just prove her right. And it wasn't that simple. Nothing was that simple with him. And if it weren't for Hulk he'd be in some suburb with Betty, doing pen-pusher type lab work and a father to 2.5 kids. Even if he lost Hulk now he'd stay in the Avenger's tower, be best friends with Nat and maybe learn archery from Clint and how to drink from Thor (he was always looking for new students) and be with... Well he wasn't sure yet. But that was just icing on the cake. He'd have friends, basically a family, that he actually felt comfortable with. That he wouldn't worry about killing or if they feared death from him. But instead he was crouching on a forest floor, eyes wet, wondering if he could ever be happy.

(Line Break)

So. What do you think?


	52. Chapter 52

A/N: Sorry this isn't suppose to be late but wifi wasn't working last night or this morning. Right now it looks like I'll have a chapter tonight to make up for it, but we'll have to see. Grad Party tomorrow so I'm busy but I'm hoping Monday things will go back to normal. Also I have three story ideas, not including the sequels for this, and I think I want to start on one, so I'd love to hear which one you'd like me to start first. One is called Lifting Thor's Hammer: Five People Who Could and One Person Who Couldn't. The other two are untitled, but the first would be another six chapter one about picking out gifts for Bruce Banner's birthday, and the last a long Hulkeye fic loosely based on the plot of the Invincible Hulk comics and Maria Hill sticking Clint in to "protect them". You wouldn't have to have read the comics for them to make sense. Any opinions? Which sounds best? And tell me what you think of the chapter too please!

(Line Break)

"You're a bit faster, why don't you run down the road and see if you can catch up if he is down there, and I'll look more carefully in the woods." Natasha said. Clint wanted to point out that he was quite certain she was faster, while his eyes were better trained, but he didn't think it mattered much anyway, so he nodded and took off running. Natasha turned and walked back. After a minute of walking towards the camp she turned off the road, took a couple of steps away, and knelt by a figure laying on the forest floor. "Bruce." She whispered, "Look up at me. I just want to talk to you."

Bruce slowly looked up, his face blotchy and his eyes red rimmed. He wiped at them, more than embarrassed. He and Nat had always had an awkward relationship in his eyes. They were civil, sometimes even friendly and joking when other members of the team were around, but Bruce avoided being alone around her at any cost. He avoided even seeing her in the hallway whenever possible. But now he was cornered and there wasn't any other option but to see what she had to say. "Yes Natasha?"

"Let's talk since you can't give me any excuses right now. If you need to go to the bathroom you can piss on the ground right there in your pants. Now, first of all. I don't hate you, and I'm not scared of you, so stop fucking avoiding me. I'm not Hulk's biggest fan but you never have the same look in your eyes Hulk did so start being my fucking friend, I'm not going to hurt you. Understand?" She talked fast and sharp, and her lips pressed into a tight line after she finished. Bruce wondered if it was the same voice she used when she threatened crime lords. He knew he should feel thankful and relieved rather than threatened, but instead he ran a hand through his graying hair, sitting up a bit so he could brush out the leaves peppering it.

"I understand."

"Good boy. Now as your friend I can tell you're having some trouble here Bruce." She plopped down next to him, and pulled him up. "Tony and Steve are too busy fighting over you to tell, and I think Clint knows but decided his too emotionally hardened to be a big boy and step up and help, so even if you hate me I'm the best you can get. So here's the deal. If you can look me in the eye and tell me you're leaving because /Bruce/ wants to and not because you think Hulk needs to then I'll let you leave no questions asked. But as your friend I refuse to let him rule your life. Tony can make or buy whatever you need to help you manage him. So what do you think?"

"I don't hate you Natasha." Bruce whispered, still looking down.

"I'm your friend either way. So can you look me in the eye and say you want to leave?" She leaned closer to him.

"I don't think I could look in your eyes and say anything." He muttered.

"Bruce." She said, her face reaching out and cupping his chin. "Do you want to leave?"

(Line Break)

After forty minutes Tony and Steve ran into each other again. "Any luck Cap?" Tony asked, licking his lips as he looked over the taller man.

"Not yet." Steve said. He didn't want to point out that there were three buildings and they'd already almost finished looking through all three.

"Well I'm going to go look for heat signatures, you keep looking around here." He didn't wait for Steve's answer, but instead shot off into the air.

"Get it up yet JARVIS?"

"Yes sir, but your display may be at minimum and you should not use your phasers except for flying."

"As long as you're not having performance issues." He muttered, but for once he didn't laugh at his own joke. He flew to the left, in the direction of the road, because he didn't think Bruce would be dumb enough to go wander through a woods he knew nothing about. He passed the first set of two bodies he could see- probably Nat and Clint then. It didn't seem like they had made it very far, but he'd have to yell at them for that later, and it was hard to tell when he was so high in the air. When he reached a third, solitary, body that's when he started his descent.

He flew towards the ground, then slowed as he got closer, weaving his way to the path. It was not Bruce that he was coming near, he could see that with just one early glance.

"Freeze!" He screamed.


	53. Chapter 53

A/N: I almost didn't update today. Im so tired, so you better be thankful for this. I want to go to bed so I'm not going to bother saying anymore.

(Line Break)

"I am leaving because I want to, not because of Hulk." Bruce said, but it was an unconvincing mumble to the ground and he knew Nat wasn't going to buy it.

"Okay then." Natasha said, clapping her hands then rubbing them together, as if trying to prove she was taking charge of the situation. "Let's go over what I need to provide you with for you to stay then. First off, why did you leave? I know there's more than one reason but let's just start at the beginning."

"I think Fury shot me before he was mind controlled." Bruce said, this time able to meet her eyes to prove he was serious.

"That's quite the accusation." She said, her voice slow and careful, with obvious thought behind the words. "What's your reasoning?"

"Well not everyone was hit at the same time. There was a delayed effect. And it was him Nat. It just /was/. He knew what he was doing, he used logic, he used a weapon. Tony had a million chances to just use his phasers on Steve and kill him but he didn't, he wasn't thinking logically. A women shot Tony's armor. But Fury, he wasn't trying to kill me. He told me to let Hulk out. He first hid after Hulk but then after a few minutes he came back and attacked; I would say that's when he became controlled. Besides, he just... He was Fury." Bruce said firmly. He wasn't sure how he knew, but somehow he did, even more surely then he knew whether he wanted to stay or go; whether he could ever feel comfortable in the Avengers tower.

"Well, as your friend, if you're that sure of it, then I'll believe you, and I'll discuss it with Fury. What do you want to do about it?" She asked. Bruce thought for a moment. He only ever ran from his problems, he wasn't Hulk, he didn't know how to stay and fight.

"I don't know, but uh, that definitely can't happen again. I know what Hulk can handle and what he can't and if no one trusts me than there's no way he can ever fight. He could've killed Fury."

"Bruce do you actually want to be part of the Avengers?" Natasha asked, her eyes searching his face to make sure he wouldn't lie to her. He licked his lips.

"I... I don't know. I mean, I don't trust Hulk. And it's good to hear he's saving people or whatever but I don't trust that it'll last, which means I'm not sure it's worth the risk."

"Okay, so you don't want Hulk on the team, especially in situations like these. But what about Bruce? Do you want to be on the team?" She asked. Bruce chuckled pitifully.

"What exactly would I do?"

"Bruce you're a fucking world class scientist. Stop selling yourself short and go solve cancer or something."

"I specialize in radiation. If you need that call me. Otherwise, Tony can do everything."

"Don't make me slap you." Natasha threatened. "You know Tony needs you here to stay sane and even if it's not your official shit you specialize in more than radiation. Tony's just an engineer but he does more than build the suits, doesn't me?"

"You told me you weren't going to hurt me." Was Bruce's only quiet, stubborn response.

"Bruce I can't make you stay part of the Avengers, but I think we'd all appreciate it if you stayed in the tower with us." She said, her voice taking on a soft edge. He nodded, but he wasn't sure if he meant it. "Now what other problems have there been?" She asked. "Did the kissing thing really upset you that much?"

"I haven't kissed anyone in like twenty freaking years." Bruce muttered, half-hoping his voice wouldn't be heard. She smirked a little.

"That's not why you said you were upset earlier."

"Well those were all important reasons too, but you've already heard those, and besides, I couldn't say it was just because I was a bitter horny old man."

"Hey, I would not call you a bitter horny old man. Maybe one or two of those things, but not all of them. You really like at least one of those guys. My bet is Tony, the stupid fool. And you feel that a being that has messed up a lot in your life is taking him from you too. You're scared. But there's no reason to be. I think you have a chance with him anyway. And you know what, I'm going to help you get him." Natasha decided firmly. If Bruce couldn't do anything for himself she'd just have to spoon-feed him, airplane noises and all.

"It's not Tony." Bruce mouthed more than said.


	54. Chapter 54

A/N: So I think I'm officially starting to work on a fic about the Avengers picking out Birthday presents for Bruce. I'd love suggestions. And this chapter has Tony/JARVIS fighting and Steve checking out Bruce so plenty of fun. Tell me what you think please!

(Line Break)

Clint looked up. "Will you shut up Tony?" He screamed.

"Sir it seems that that is Agent Barton. I'd advise you not to shoot." JARVIS said. Tony swore and lowered himself to the ground.

"Sorry Bart. My display isn't so great right now."

"You're not sorry." Clint said, rolling his eyes, and Tony didn't bother to disagree.

"Why'd you leave Nat?"

"She wanted me to go up ahead while she looked more carefully through the woods." Clint said, annoyed at Tony's accusatory tone. At least he was a real agent, not some rich bastard with too much time on his hands dancing around in metal. As soon as he thought that he knew he didn't mean it, and was glad he hadn't said it out loud. Tension was rising with Bruce gone, and he didn't like the way Tony seemed to think he didn't care. They all cared about Bruce, whether it was romantically or not.

"Right. Well, see you later alligator." He put out his hands, but it took the suit a second before it began it's slow ascent. "Come on JARVIS, is this the best you can do?!" He screamed, his voice still projecting out of the suit. Some of the worry spilled out of Clint's body as he chuckled.

"My apologies sir, Mark Forty One needs repairs. May I suggest not fighting with super soldiers who are on your side?" JARVIS shot back.

"Don't you dare sass me JARVIS." Tony said, now barreling towards the two other heat signatures.

"Sir you literally programmed me so that I would have witty and sarcastic remarks at random intervals."

"Exactly. Intervals. I believe that was two sarcastic remarks in a row Big J."

"I was simply stating the facts sir. An exact excerpt from my coding-"

"Shut up JARVIS." Tony said, trying to convince the suit to slow down as he got closer the ground.

"It's not Tony." He heard Bruce muttered.

"What's not me?" He asked, and Bruce jumped. "Having a little heart to heart with the spider are we?"

(Line Break)

Steve had given up on looking for Bruce inside the camp. Either he was too well hidden to be found any time soon or he was long gone, and Steve expected the latter. He didn't like sitting around and waiting though. He knew he shouldn't leave because they expected him to be there when they came back but he didn't understand why he was the sitting duck. Well, technically he did, Nat and Clint had better eyes and Tony could do some crazy shit with body heat or something, but he had to be useful for something. Then he remembered that he had a walkie-talkie that Tony said could reach all of them easily. He grabbed it off his belt, his fingers clenched around the thick black box. He slammed the button and heard a bit of static before he said,

"Can anyone hear me?" There was a moments pause before Clint's voice cut through the silence.

"Yes Rogers?"

"I'm going to move out and look along the path. Do you have an update?"

"Romanov and I split up so I could move quickly and she could look more carefully in the woods." Clint answered. "Stark found me and left to look for more heat signatures. No sign of Banner as far as I know."

"Thanks Barton." Steve answered, then clipped his walkie talkie back on his belt. If Fury was on the line he would've talked more officially, but Fury wasn't so he saw no reason to be completely cold. He had to be careful not to take out frustration on others. It was none of their faults.

He walked along the road, his eyes scanning it and the woods, and his thoughts wandering even more than his eyes. He was surprised to hear voices only fifteen minutes later.

"What's not me? Having a little heart to heart with the spider, are we?" Tony asked.

"Tony!" Steve screamed, realizing the man must be talking to someone. He took in a deep breath and smelled a bit of Omega mixed in with three separate yet strong Alpha scents. He ran towards them, easily jumping over tree roots and fallen branches to reach them.

"Stevie! Glad you could join us." Tony said, patting Steve's lower back rather than shoulder. Steve wasn't looking at Tony though. His eyes were flying over Bruce Banner as if it were to be his last time seeing him, so he had to study ever detail.

The man's arms were crossed protectively over his stomach, his fingers clawing at his sides. His suit-pant clad legs were crossed on the dirty ground, one of his feet tapping against it. His purple shirt pulled tight across his chest in stomach, the buttons pressed against him but not quite yet pulled apart. His neck was just starting to loose the burnt red that came from years of running in harsh summer sun. His face was filled with worried wrinkles, making him look practically as old as Steve really was. His mouth was a tight line and his eyes looked over Natasha with confusion and betrayal. Her face was blank as she looked back at him.


	55. Chapter 55

A/N: I think this is trigger free. Sorry it's late. I had a birthday and am dying of tired. (And Bruce has been tired lately! Coincidence? Probably not.)

(Line Break)

"We /will/ continue this discussion later." Natasha said to Bruce. She stood up and offered him a hand, so he could follow her onto his feet. Then she turned to face Tony. "I think we're all tired. Steve and I can handle the formal investigation. You all should go back."

"There's obviously a powerful supervillain here! Why would we leave you unprotected?" Tony pointed out, indignant.

"Because right now you guys will do more harm than help. If we need your help, we'll call you back."

"Who put you in charge?" Tony snapped back.

"Steve, Bruce, and I are the ones officially on the case. You and Clint just tagged along. Even Bruce should be able to go home, since his expertise are no longer needed. Steve do you see any reason they need to stay?" She asked. Steve shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't completely sure why he was even there, much less them. The last few days he had been wandering around and preforming menial jobs. They (whoever the mystical they was, he wasn't quite certain on this mission. Possibly just Natasha) decided he wasn't ready for undercover work, and put in another agent for him, but it wasn't as if he had any other serviceable skills either. He was glad not to make Clint leave, but it was clear that he wasn't cut out be the same type of agent as Natasha and Clint. And yet here he was, having to make a decision as if he were.

"Well..." He glanced at Natasha for just a moment, and her head tilted a little towards Bruce. The man was practically shaking with nerves now, and his head twitched up when Steve looked before his neck flopped back towards the ground. He looked like he at least deserved to go home, especially considering how close he had just come to running from the team. "I believe we have an agent in need of recuperation. Two actually, if Clint's earlier mental state was a good indicator. I do not believe it would be good to send them alone, so it would be very beneficial for you to go with them Stark."

"So Steve votes the two of you and Clint return. What do you say Bruce?" Natasha asked. Despite being the third on the list Bruce still looked surprised at being asked to give his opinion. He was still thinking over what Steve said, trying to find out how offended exactly he should be. That he was in need of recuperation; probably that his mental state was not the best. Those both seemed to be a given so he decided to go with it. He'd give it a good long think over in the plane and if he still wanted to leave he could run from New York. That way, maybe he could even throw a bit of money together too. Maybe he could just plan on that. Not give any other option any thought. It was always hard to really think after a Hulk out. Eating and sleeping were preferable but he had learned to run by now.

"I uh, I think that would be good right now. And it would be really nice if Tony came back with me." He said. He hadn't totally meant to say the last part, or rather, he hadn't known he was going to say it. It didn't sound quite right. A bit too clingy, a bit too obsessive, and much too heartfelt. But he was too tired to worry about all the ramifications.

Tony hadn't been wavering for a moment until that last line. He could tell a lot was going on with Bruce but he pushed it to the back burner for a bit, decided it was sort of a freak accident, and could best be dealt with by the entire team. But when he said he wanted to go back, and he wanted Tony specifically with him, well with that downtrodden voice of his and the way his hair flopped slightly over his pouty eyes when he leaned his head down, how Tony suppose to refuse? It would've been downright mean to.

Steve tried his best not to wish his name had been said, reminding himself that what was best for Bruce was most important, and he had probably just said it to prevent there from being a fight. Maybe.

Natasha decided with just those two lines that no matter what Bruce said about whether or not it was Tony, it definitely was, and she was going to do all she could in her power to get them together.

"I suppose that's settled then." Tony said, his eyes trailing over Bruce. "I'll go with you. Let's go get Clint and get going." He patted Bruce's shoulder and the other man jumped a little, then nodded slightly.

"Not so fast." Natasha cautioned. "Bruce and I aren't finished talking. You go get Clint, and you can meet the two of us right here."


	56. Chapter 56

A/N: Yes this is really late. I'm sorry. I've been traveling and that is the best excuse I have even though you'd think a 12 hour car ride would give me plenty of writing time. And then camp nano counts tomorrow. Are any of you doing that? My username is nomuseneeded on that too if you want to add (friend?) me. But that'll probably slow me down. So, I think for a few weeks I might shoot for three to five times a week rather than every day. Sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. Also for a few you I can't answer your reviews? I'm not sure why and I'm sorry but I did read and really appreciate them. Thank you! Please continue giving me reviews they totally make my day!

(Line Break)

"Bruce I'm going to give you my number. You're going to talk to me all the time, anytime you have a problem. At least one text a day. I know you have to go, so I'll text you. If you feel up to it on the plane you can answer, if not at least tell me you got back okay, then make sure you eat a good meal before you sleep. It's about time you start taking better care of yourself." Natasha said after Tony and Steve had both left them alone for a few minutes. Bruce shoulders loosened and let out an audible sigh. People telling him he should take better care of himself was certainly something he could deal with. Well, probably only poorly, but he did at least have experience in the area.

"Okay Natasha. But I'm really fi-"

"Cut the BS Banner." She interrupted. "You're not taking good care of yourself. And you may not know it, but I do and I'm going to help you. Because you deserve to be happy Bruce; I really believe that. And I think you can happy even with Hulk. You've learned to manage him pretty well; I'm going to teach you how to manage yourself." Again Bruce wondered if he should be offended, but he decided it was better if he just agreed.

"Right. Well uh, I'll text you. JARVIS has your number I'm sure."

"I'll text you first." She reached up and ruffled his hair. He shuddered away from the hand at first, but after a moment to learn there was no negative intentions he relaxed a bit. "Sorry. But you look so much like a little lost puppy. I'm going to go find Tony and Clint and tell them to come back here for you. Don't you dare run. I just want to give you a few seconds to relax. It's been a busy day, and now you get to go fly out of the country." She grinned at him and walked away.

He was thankful for the gesture, thinking it was as if she somehow intuitively knew when he needed his space. He sat cross-legged on the ground and rested his hands lightly on his knees. He let his eyes fall closed and slowed his breathing. He started with counting but quickly slipped into his old mantra.

(Line Break)

"Tony!" Natasha said, walking up to him. He was standing across from Steve, his hands balling at his sides. Clint was standing between them, his hands raising a bit to shield them from each other.

"Tony I wasn't trying to-"

"Yeah, well, you did. It's not my fucking fault and you know it! It's just the way he is! He just likes running because he can't fight!"

"Don't you dare insult Bruce." Steve said, his voice dropping low and mimicking what he used to scare the super villains of the world.

"What are you going to do, pin over him at a distance?" Tony asked. Cap sneered.

"Will you two shut up?" Natasha screamed, walking up to them. "What if Bruce had been with me?"

"Where did you leave him?" Tony asked, whipping around.

"Exactly where we had been earlier."

"He's been trying to run and you left him alone?!" Tony screamed.

"Tony you're just looking for a fight." Natasha crossed her arms. "I've actually talked to him, unlike you, and he's not going to run. So just go back there and take him home. Maybe actually be nice enough to think about him ask him if he's okay. He's the one who needs help and you're too busy fighting and pretending it's to help him."

"Touchy." Tony said, but he felt the ever-familiar guilt seeping into his chest as he flew back towards Bruce. When she said that, it was so obvious. He didn't know how to actually help Bruce so he misplaced his frustration at others and pretended like that made a difference. All it made was a void inside his chest.

"Is Bruce okay?" Steve asked Natasha, his eyes downcast and his voice soft.

"He'll be okay. But you all have to understand he's going through a lot right now. We're asking him to settle down in one place, to trust us, which for him is huge, and then he tells us that he's basically in physical danger and we all just blow him off. And even after that he tells us not to do something that triggers him and we practically laugh in his face. We're suppose to be heroes and we seem like a lot of fucking douche bags." Natasha pointed out. Steve wasn't entirely sure what the last word meant but he knew it was an insult and didn't think now was really the time to ask.

"I know." Steve whispered.

"We need to give him some limits. We know not to mention Loki in front of Clint, or the New York incident in front of Tony, so we need to talk to Bruce and ask him what we can do to help."

"I really want to help Bruce." Steve said.

"Is that all?" Natasha asked, raising one eyebrow.


End file.
